Fstoppers Original Articles

Have you ever felt like your photos were missing something? In just two minutes, learn to make your portraits come to life by adding a realistic burst of light in Photoshop.

The pursuit of perfection in any creative craft can often inspire the feeling that one is forever climbing a mighty mountain yet never even rising beyond base camp. Photography is no different, any photographer worth their salt will have trudged through great difficulty to reach mastery in their craft. We all commonly begrudge the struggle, but it is through that struggle that we are able to make all of our most impressive gains.

Yes, you read that correctly. A two-light setup (one key-light, one back-light) using nothing but natural light. No bounce, no reflectors, nothing. With just you, your subject, and a little knowledge, you can create stunning imagery with even more depth using your surroundings to your advantage. So are you ready? Let's go!

Sure, the photo-focused social media app is saturated. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it to drum up more business. If you’re a photographer wanting more clients, Instagram has the potential to be a powerful marketing tool.

While beautiful, classic family portraits will never go out of fashion, sometimes clients desire something that shows the fun, frivolous nature of their relationships with each other, as well as the lifestyles they love. A fun, outrageous portrait that shows the special family dynamic may be just what your clients are looking for.

It’s easy to let life get in the way of photography sometimes. Kids happen, bills need to get paid, and plans to take that cross-country trip fall by the wayside just to keep the gears running smoothly.

Black and white conversion can be a complicated ordeal, and you can find yourself down a deep rabbit hole of theory if you're not careful. There are times where that kind of in-depth analysis is critical to a perfect image, but sometimes you just need a quick fix. That's where this tip comes in.

For many years the real king of detail, sharpness, color, and DOF has been a 16-bit medium format system, such as Phase One. The larger the film (or sensor) the better the quality has been. Naturally, with my quest for maximum quality in every way, the path led me to medium format. Along with an obsession to be like Joey L for a longer period of time than I care to admit, it only seemed like the next step was to make the switch to medium format.

Just before you decide to throw out that old laptop and upgrade to a new one you might be surprised to find how a very quick and easy hardware swap could actually change everything.

Getting ready for your next landscape photography expedition? If you want to bring back winning shots, you need a variety of great places to shoot. Points of interest are easy to find, but the easy-to-find places are prime targets for hordes of tourists.

As a wedding photographer, it's not always easy to find balance between the style of work you're genuinely passionate about and the type of work that pays the bills. So, how can you shoot personal projects to improve your professional photography work?

When we start out as photographers, it can be a little underwhelming, I mean, we all have this idea of what we're capable of and yet we start out working on small jobs (often) with low budgets. Assisting helps you keep your enthusiasm while rising up through the ranks of experience and gives you access to productions possibly decades away from your current skill set.

Slot canyons can be found all around the world. These narrow canyons can be made of sandstone, ice, granite, clay, or other naturally occurring materials. Some of these canyons can be rather large in both width and depth, while other canyons can be incredibly narrow and difficult to navigate

Are you able to do everything you need from inception of an idea to execution up until delivery with Adobe CC alone, or do you need other apps like Da Vinci Resolve and Capture One for coloring your video and photo projects? With Adobe's latest update, is it possible to do it all using only Adobe?

If you ever feel the weight of the world on top of you, you might want to consider letting loose with your camera. I've found that going outside and having fun with my camera is a fantastic way to combat stress and anxiousness.

I first got in touch with Yuribert Capetillo Hardy of YoSoyVideo when I found his breathtaking short film Roller Coaster chosen as a Staff Pick over on Vimeo. Since then I have been watching in the hope that there would be another gorgeous short coming out of his editing room. With the release of Strained Lebanon, it was the perfect time to reach out for an interview.

People will either inspire or drain you and your creativity. Why not be around those who motivate you?

Adobe’s latest update to Adobe Premiere CC has made it more accessible than ever for beginners to start editing video, but if your processing power is limited, playback lag can make the editing process frustrating. Here are six ways to reduce playback lag when editing your timeline.

When your shutter is open for five minutes or longer while you take long exposure photos, what do you do during that time? Today I’ll share four things I do that have helped me become a better photographer and much more productive.

Street photography is a popular genre and a favorite of mine to admire. This week's submissions by our readers produced an exceptional list and helped the WeeklyFstop gain some needed street credit.

Almost regardless of the content in the scene, so much of what makes a great landscape photograph is simply being where you need to be at the right time. Would you rather be a skillful planner or would you accept pure dumb luck if it means you get a great shot?

In a saturated market of incoming photographers each holiday or tax season, it is easy to get discouraged when you are trying to get paid clients in the door. When we think of photography sessions we generally tend to lean on the idea of photographing only people in portraits. Families, boudoir, fashion, and even underwater sessions. With so many other creative ways out there to get paid why not tap into another resource for marketing?

The toilet has a humble and immodest history in photography. So, to follow in the footsteps of the greats, I set out to review it's past and recreate my own in the style of Alfred Steiglitz.

When people come together to help each other, good things happen. This idea is what spurned one of the more popular trends on Instagram called “pods.” Instagram pods are used to help beat the algorithm that so many users despise. I decided to join one and give it a try recently, not only to test it out, but also to share my thoughts regarding this trend and why you should or shouldn’t get involved in one.

I recently had the opportunity to have dinner with Alex Merriman, the Director of Photography with the UFC. I got to geek out with him about mixed martial arts, and the technical side of filming and promoting the fastest growing sport in the world.

Actions and presets are incredibly useful ways of speeding up your workflow when processing photos. Instead of individually re-creating your settings for each photo in Photoshop or Lightroom, you can essentially copy and paste all your preferred adjustments. Let’s check out the differences between the two.

Have you ever considered the potential of the objects that sit in front of you every day? With the high demand for photos in social media and online marketing, your images of even the most simple items have value. Here’s how to capitalize on this and produce an easy portfolio of stock images to sell.

Achieving soft, directional light outdoors can be difficult. Sure, you can use an overcast day for soft, natural light, but often, this will not give you the most flattering light on your subject's face. In this video, we use my largest light modifier to see how you can turn an overcast day into a professional looking catalog image.

Posing is an art and technique that must be honed. Many photographers may feel they're in a rut with posing or that their routine is lacking. Here are a few reasons why your posing may seem lackluster.

If I were shooting portraits on a desert island and could only take one lens with me, it would be hard to leave my 70-200mm behind. After picking up a Canon 16-35mm for a trip to Scotland, though, I've found myself using it more and more often when I have people in front of my lens.

I'll start by saying that I have never been a good writer. Words never came naturally to me, and this became a huge problem when I started having to reply to work emails. However, I worked on it and can now share my best email templates with you.

What does it take to win an internationally respected photography competition? A few weeks ago, the Sony World Photo Awards announced their winners, one of whom was Fstoppers community member Mikkel Beiter, who won two awards: Open Travel and Denmark National Award. We caught up with him to find out about his work and his prize-winning photograph.

For a lot of us who are chasing a career in photography, we soon come to a bit of a pinch point. We have thrown all our money into cameras, computers, lenses, and lights, so our house is a mess of kit clutter. Here's how to build your own dedicated studio.

Besides your camera, your phone is probably the most important tool for a successful photography trip. So if your laptop was stolen, could you get by with your smartphone? Would it be handicapped without a cellular connection?

Working with clients on a day-to-day basis, it can be very easy to fall into a creative rut, using the same go-to posing, styling, and scenery for the simple reason we know what will sell during a client viewing appointment. For the business aspect, this is very efficient when selling images. For the artist, many feel the need for something more by pushing the creative limits. A little adventure is all it may take to get geared back up and into the creative mindset.

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 2017, 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.

Planning may be one of the most important things when it comes to taking the aerial photos you want. A lot of the stuff I shoot is mapped out thoroughly so I can plan days and times to go shoot what I have in mind.

Grand Canyon National Park is nothing short of epic. With rich natural history and mind-blowing scenery, most people have at least heard of this natural wonder. But who has tried to capture the Canyon's beauty and grace (Many!)? And who has done it successfully? That's open to debate.

In the past few years, the growing number of wedding photographers and their vast range of prices have made finding your value as a photographer challenging. This series of articles will help you to navigate your prices to meet your goals and earn your worth as a wedding photographer.

Having spent years photographing the night sky from the Milky Way to exploding meteors to man-made space junk disintegrating in the atmosphere, I thought I had seen it all. Then I drove as far north into Canada as you can possibly go, and everything changed.

Well, it has been about a year since I published one of my first popular articles titled "Why Us Average Joe Photographers Suck at Instagram" and I think it's time to update some things. If you think I'm better off now with thousands of new followers and busy influencing left and right, you'll be disappointed.

Blogging has always been a sore spot for photographers. After all, we didn’t become photographers to write, but instead, we became photographers to take photos. So why, then, is blogging necessary for a successful photography business?

If you've spent 10 minutes behind the camera, chances are someone has asked you, "What do I do with my hands?" For women, the possibilities range from graceful, balletic caresses to angular, fashion-driven poses. But, what do you with with men? These are my top three tips to always have an answer.

The 2018 wedding season is quickly approaching for many of us. Long days, bridezillas, constantly on the move, all for that amazing shot the couple will look back on decades later to reminisce about their special day.

Have you ever wondered what it took to make your vision come to life? In this personal project, in the last four weeks of my senior year, I captured 365 portraits of my high school class and brought together an entire community through the portraits.

This photo is striking. Skimming through the archives at the Library of Congress, I was immediately drawn to this image. But why?

Before anything else, this is the one lens every Sony mirrorless shooter should own. And no, it’s not part of their premium and pricey G Master line.

There is a change happening in work culture. Bosses are more open to telecommuting and being a freelancer can be thought of as being the answer to a modern day working life. Here are some tools and comparisons to provide the best fit for you and the business stage you are in.

Recently a member of the Fstoppers Facebook group posted a confession with a simple question: Who else uses their left eye to look through the camera's viewfinder? I was shocked by the results.

When a client hands a portrait photographer their hard-earned money, they want to see a photograph of themselves they feel great about. Light is a key aspect in producing such a photo, but how is a photographer supposed to choose which lighting style works for their client?