Fstoppers Original Articles

Have you had cases when someone looks at a photo at 100 percent and says it looks bad, but when you check it yourself, it's just fine? Is it possible that both are correct?

There are various reasons why the golden hours are the best times of day to shoot. But to just dismiss regular daylight hours out of hand is just silly. Because daylight can be beautiful too.

Attempts to network with fellow photographers often fall short. Many of us act as professional “gatekeepers," defensively sharing little or no information.

We all wish we could make money doing photography, but one macro specialist found a way to have his photography made into money. Twenty Canadian dollars, to be exact.

Out of the over 1 billion Instagram users on the platform in 2018, it's important to stand out. Check out my top 10 favorite female portrait photographers on Instagram and go give them a follow! Be ready to be blown away!

Have you ever felt so uninterested and indifferent towards photography that you could barely look at your camera, let alone pick it up and go out shooting? I have, but I found a few things I'd like to share with you today that really helped me rediscover my passion.

Hair photography can be a pain to shoot. Having a good hair stylist is incredibly important to make sure you don’t end up spending more time than you should behind the desk for the retouching. When it comes to hair, you’ll already have to spend more time than you’ll like.

It all started when I lost my camera. I needed a smartphone with a decent camera for just such occasions. So why on earth aren't there any good camera apps on Android?

This past weekend in Colorado I decided to give my full frame mirrorless camera a break and shoot some portraits using the much smaller Sony RX100V. I was curious to see if a small, pocket-sized camera could give me the kind of results that I would be happy with. Here are my experience and recommendations if you choose to do the same!

I don’t think there’s a more polarizing social media platform than Instagram. From photographers who sing its praises to those who loathe the day it was invented, there’s no denying that Instagram evokes strong feelings.

This is your chance to participate in the Flashlight challenge, prove you can make an amazing photograph with any light source, and have your photograph featured in an Fstoppers article all about you!

There are a lot of reasons for people starting in photography or trying to become a photographer. Be it as a hobby, to make some extra money, to make it a main source of income, or whatever the reason might be, it takes careful thought when purchasing a camera.

Last weekend I attended the world's largest military air show at MCAS Miramar in San Diego, California. Also in attendance with me was a Sony a9 and the new FE 400mm f/2.8 GM lens. Here's how it went down.

There are many, many different trends that have gained a significant amount of traction on the immensely popular social media platform. Some of these trends die out and some of them stay, and so far, it seems that centered compositions are here to stay.

Creating a custom email signature is easy if all you want is plain text. It’s worth it to create your own HTML signature to stand out with something fresh. And it’s not nearly as scary as it sounds.

So, you’re thinking of becoming a street photographer? What are the most important things to get you started? Find out!

Hyperfocal distances are an arcane, over-technical art for some photographers and just another tool to whip out at the necessary moment for others. So, how do you put those hyperfocal blues to bed?

It's that time of year again when masses of photographers and videographers from all over the East coast make their way to NYC and the Jacob Javits Center for PDN's PhotoPlus Expo 2018.

The Mavic 2 Pro can record video in 10-bit, but this mode suffers from significant barrel distortion on the edge of the frame. DJI acknowledged the issue and created presets and values to correct this problem in Premiere Pro, Final Cu, and DaVinci Resolve.

Rewind back to 2013. Mirrorless cameras are in full swing, gobbling up the low and prosumer ends of the market, and amidst all the fuss, Canon puts out its prosumer offering, a seemingly tepid update to the 60D, the 70D.

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.

Some people thrive in the social media arena. However, others find it a battle not worth fighting.

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.

A lot can be said for the power of social media. In fact, many of today’s most successful photographers owe a lot to the beasts that we lovingly refer to as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. But are these platforms that we all invest so much of our time into the final nails in the coffin of a professional photograph industry that was built less on savvy social media skill and the latest filter packs and more on actual relationships, constancy, and hard work?

As photographers, we need to put our best foot forward, especially if we're hoping to get clients to hire us or even simply aim for a quick dopamine hit on Instagram. However, one of the most beneficial exercises I have done is to look at the process of getting to my own favorite images and the process others follow to get to theirs.

"Say cheese" might be one of the most common things you think of when it comes to standard portrait photography. In the days of mall studios or even class pictures, this phrase is something we can all attest to hearing at least once in our lives. With more modern day photography, there has become less and less forced smiles and bribery in order to get that perfect image.

If your bookings are on a downward trend, you are not alone. With many photographers claiming a significant decrease in clients, let’s take a look at what is causing the sudden dip.

Gear cannot make you a better photographer. This statement is said over and over and I actually really believe it. But despite believing this statement to be true, I also believe that switching to mirrorless has made me a better photographer.

Artists are undoubtedly perfectionists and are their harshest critics. Learn why getting your next project done and releasing it to the world is better than waiting for it to be perfect.

In the past few weeks, Nikon and Canon have released their new mirrorless offerings, the Z7 and R, to much fanfare. Despite the great specs and form factor, I won't buy either for one simple reason: neither one has dual card slots. I never shoot anything without dual card slots, and neither should you.

Providing a service to clients as a small business comes with risks. At some point during the course of photographing a wedding, every photographer will run into an unforeseen circumstance. Are you prepared to face the unexpected?

With his hand wedged firmly in a crack of the sheer granite face of El Capitan, Alex Honnold looks up and scans his route as he doggedly continues his death-defying ascent of the iconic rock formation with no safety ropes to save him in case of calamity.

One of the most difficult aspects of professional photography is dealing with business. This will help.

The list of motivating landscape photographers who regularly vlog keeps growing. And if you’re interested in vlogging yourself, there just might be a solid option for weight-conscious landscape photographers.

As creatives, most of us know the value of a strong internet presence and what that can do to boost brand recognition and our business bottom-line, but we don’t always know how to make the best of that presence. I spoke with a successful web builder and graphic designer to get a glimpse of the most important aspects of boosting web potential for photographers.

Why would anyone spend $50 on a lens that's almost certain to be soft, noisy, and slow to focus? Let me tell you: because it's awesome. If you're new to photography, have a tiny budget, or have never owned a prime lens and want to see what the fuss is about, this is where to start.

What should a photographer do when surrounded by thousands of dead fish, some of the fastest ocean tides in the world, and wild bears that want to eat anything in sight? You take a deep breath and attempt to capture the beautiful scenery. Welcome to Valdez!

Years ago Instagram was filled with poorly filtered and over processed HDR images. Thankfully we have moved away from those days but how did we end up in a world without much color?

Adobe is taking all the hard work out of 3D compositing, by marrying stock models with their 3D scene creation and rendering app.

With the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, Apple introduced the ability to control the amount of blur in the background of its Portrait Mode photos. But what seems like a gimmicky tweak takes what was a gimmick and turns it into a pro feature.

Please stop tagging the exact location of your outdoor photographs.

Getting your prints to look exactly how they should is a constant battle for many photographers. Minimize the amount of time and money wasted on reprinting by downloading these free templates and using a traditional technique borrowed from the darkroom.

Playboy Magazine is famous for one thing, — okay, maybe two things — but there are no nude women in any of my photos, nor do I have any shots of the late Hugh Hefner. So, how did I do it?

You wanted it and now you've got it. Almost every single video-capturing device today boasts 4K capture. Do you feel the future is here?

Two trips in two weeks, and on the first day of each trip, I'd lost a camera. How did it all come about and where did it end?

Have you ever heard someone say they do not want to go to Iceland because it is over-photographed and too mainstream?

Patrick and I recently were recently planning a trip to Alaska, and Patrick became obsessed with a particular excursion: a plane ride that landed on a glacier on the top of Denali Mountain.

Editing your images can be a love/hate relationship depending on how you feel about post production. Getting tied down in your workflow can be a result of not having the right displays and shortcuts for better visualization of the final result. A few key tricks will lay out your most used tools and displays to get you in and out of Photoshop.

I have been a photographer for almost eight years, and to be honest, it has not always been fun. No career path is without its ups and down, and certainly, the creative industry is no different.

One of the lies we tell ourselves when presented with a challenge — an opportunity to stride forward — is that we aren't ready or aren't prepared enough. Well, you never will be.