Fstoppers Original Articles

Stefano Carnelli is an Italian photographer living in London and Berlin, shooting socially-engaged, documentary images on medium-format film with a particular interest in the relationship between people and landscapes. His recent project, “Transumanza,” explores the lives of shepherds and their flocks in the Po Valley of northern Italy, examining how their historic traditions have changed in response to globalization and an ever-shifting landscape.

At the onset of a portrait shoot it is important to come packing the usual garden variety of a few safe jokes to lighten the mood, some fail-proof poses to keep things moving, and direction for the model to play off of. It is easy to forget, with all the headspace that pours into reflecting the images from inside of our heads, towards reality, that when the time comes to start working with our subject, we are not just setting a tone visually, but also emotionally. One simple way personally for me to connect and as well bring additional personality out of a model is via the universal power of music, which has long played a predominant role in my life.

Recently, Nikon released the D850, which is the latest upgrade to their high-megapixel DSLR line of cameras. Like the models that preceded it, the D850 stands as one of the most groundbreaking cameras in terms of image quality, speed, and resolution. I wanted to take this new camera for a test drive and see just how significant these upgrades actually are. Welcome to Ireland, everybody; this is my personal D850 review!

I'm a very technical guy, probably to the point of being a little obsessive. Today I wanted to talk about technical skill and quality versus emotion.

It's the time of the year in which rankings appear all around the Internet spotlighting the best performers of the past 12 months. But what about the worst? As the French writer Beaumarchais once said, “Without Freedom to blame, there is no flatterer's praise.” Here is my take at the worst 2017 camera, the Canon 6D Mark II.

I believe that upon our journey in whatever craft you choose, we encounter people who not only inspire, but assist in pushing us to grow more, and photographer Lucas Passmore has been exactly that for me. Initially, from the Midwest, Lucas is a fashion photographer living in Los Angeles. His regards for the history of photography, ability to capture a moment, and willingness to give back to those new to the photography community made him the perfect person to highlight in my first interview.

Clichéd new year resolutions are as much of a tradition of the holidays as building snowmen and eggnog. Why not change things up a bit this year and set yourself a resolution which is related to helping you grow as a photographer. Here are 10 promises worth trying to keep in 2018.

By the time you're reading this, it may already be or soon will be 2018. So first of all, I hope that you have or had a great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I hope that creatively, its been a great year for everyone out there and I hope that 2018 has only the best in store for us. This is a fun time of year that offers us a chance to relax a bit and reflect on the year that has past. We create, we grow, we change, and we get better. This is the time to look back over our work and simply enjoy what we've done in the year 2017.

We all know the term, and as cringe-worthy as it can sound, it doesn't negate it's importance: networking. Along with "entrepreneur," the word "networking" gets thrown around a lot in today's millennial-run world full of social media highlight reels and "try-hard" antics. But networking, in the purest sense of the word, is an absolute necessity in our industry of creative entrepreneurship. There are opportunities around you that you will never be privy to unless you start cultivating genuine relationships with the creators in your extended circles. Not only that, but there is a vast pool of resources and knowledge that you could be tapping into.

Aruba: a wedding guest collapsed and was attended to by medics after witnesses said he spent the majority of the wedding nervously watching the photographer and mumbling things such as: "No, no, that's the wrong angle, you idiot! The D750? Seriously!?"

Everywhere I turn, I am hearing about the upcoming tax code change and who it will benefit. Until January 1, my eyes are solely on 2017 income and what advantages photographers can utilize to reduce their tax burden this year. Time is of the essence for what you can do this year to save money before the ball drops on December 31 at midnight.

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.

It’s that time of year. You have probably seen the abundance of marriage proposals on your news feeds, as I have. Before long, these newly engaged couples will be looking to hire a photographer for their weddings. Wedding expos are still an excellent place for these couples to find you, especially this time of year.

We all have a different bag setup. Some prefer to travel light and mobile while others go for a more heavy duty option. Some people want a stylish option that shows off some personal flair while others just want something practical. We each like a different layout and store our gear and accessories in a different way or in a different pocket. In spite of our different preferences when it comes to our camera bags, there is one universal truth. One item that, regardless of your specialty, you positively need to have somewhere in your bag. You must keep a few up to date business cards in your bag at all times.

Some time earlier this year, I had this idea to try and find my own approach to portraiture solely for children. It was a multi-faceted idea which came to me pretty much at random. I was reviewing some of my recent portrait work when I realized that I had only ever worked with a couple of children as my subjects throughout my entire running career as a photographer. I figured out a long time ago that family portraits really just weren't something I was interested in, but that didn't really have anything to do with my actual choice of subjects. Just because I didn't want to shoot family portraits didn't necessarily mean that I couldn't work with kids.

We asked for snow and we sure got it. I spent the week enjoying the weather with my family. We alternated between outside time in the yard throwing snowballs, building forts, and warming up by the fireplace with hot chocolate. I was too busy having fun to get any photos, but luckily for all of us, our readers were not. This week's list might make you a bit cold so I suggest grabbing a blanket.

Medium-format cameras have long been known for being able to produce incredible and vibrant colors. This is one of the main reasons behind why many professionals upgrade and spend so much on these systems. The colors that you can achieve with the 16-bit sensors are very desirable and allow much more flexibility in post. Currently, the 100MP sensor is the only CMOS sensor that is 16-bit capable based on the hardware, and most people who shoot with these cameras are very happy with the results. Phase One, however, decided it wasn't good enough and released their new Trichromatic back.

With Christmas solidly in the rearview mirror and that shiny new camera that Santa brought screaming for some action, it is all on you to shake off that excess holiday cheer and head outside to see how you and your gear performs.

As photographers, our friends, relatives, and significant others sometimes despair at trying to find what may appeal to us and be within their holiday budgets. We may casually let them know that we are super excited about this new gadget that will "really" improve our photography if we only had that one newfangled gizmo. Whether it’s a brand new piece of kit or something that’s been in our bags sitting from a few years ago, we still need to learn what that "new" tool can do.

With the holidays upon us, many photographers (including myself) will want to break out all their gear. In years past I have always planned on what cameras and lens combos to bring, lights, possible modifiers, batteries, and everything in between to photograph Christmas. This year I took on a new approach. An iPhone and a cheap stand set in the corner in time-lapse mode would be the only media I walked away with this year.

Running a successful photography business presents many challenges. When a photographer goes from hobbyist to professional they quickly learn that there is much more to master other than being technically adept at their craft. From learning how to organize a business to discovering the many hats we wear as business owners, it quickly becomes apparent that there is much more to running a successful photography business other than simply picking up a camera and snapping some great shots.

Interpreting a photo can be a difficult task. We capture a moment and those moments are not equifinal, that is they don't all lead to a known end. In fact, it's quite the opposite. The visual juxtaposition of people and objects have the potential to lead to multiple outcomes or multiverses. John Berger perceived this notion of equifinality as an inherent metric of photo quality in terms of how much of the moment a photo can inform us and what we can then say about its past and potential futures — its “quotation” as he called it.

Another year has come and gone, and as such the time has come to reflect on the road ahead. With the New Year just a few days away, now is the best time to do some soul searching and adopt some resolutions that will help improve your photography going forward. This road is often a challenging one, based on the forever hunt for ever greater photographs. With the goal of always improving our craft in mind, these New Years resolution suggestions will help get you out to an amazing start in 2018.

Two days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, I posted a tweet about his use of a low-resolution, potentially unlicensed image being used as his header image on his preferred weapon of choice, Twitter. On technical and professional levels, it was a fail (you can see it at the top of this article). I should have realized it was a sign of things to come.

Yoga balls and standing desks may have become a stereotype of the hipster office space, but there is a legitimate reason for this alteration in traditional office paraphernalia: sitting is bad for you, and photographers should take heed before their health begins to deteriorate. Aside from the musculoskeletal dangers of spending too long sitting at the computer, like neck strain and back problems, other parts of the body may be suffering in silence, such as the heart and pancreas.

No matter if you photograph headshots, weddings, portraits, or sports, one of the most important skills you can have as a photographer is picking out interesting yet non-distracting backgrounds. Many photographers prefer shooting with fast prime lenses but in today's short photography tutorial, I'm going to show you why I prefer the power and versatility of a telephoto lens.

For the longest time, I avoided shooting weddings at all costs. I personally thought they were something photographers only did to make money and that no one truly enjoyed them. But as I developed more and more as a professional I started getting the itch to just try one, just to say I could do it. Soon after, I got in touch with my contact that worked weddings and lined up a job as a secondary shooter the following week. When it was all said and done, those four hours were possibly the most fun and challenging times I’ve ever had with a camera.

I hold these truths to be self-evident. One, things don’t always go the way we’d like them to. And two, how we respond to failure is equally, if not more important than how we deal with success.

Recently Fstoppers reviewed ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, the newest version of their all-in-one editing flagship. If you are not familiar with ACDSee’s platform, it is an editing suite similar to Capture One Pro or Photoshop, but also includes photo managing tools and quick editing capabilities similar to Lightroom. This gives ACDSee a unique combined platform that simplifies the average user’s workflow and eliminates the costly need for multiple programs.

Pripyat, once a town of 40,000 people and now a short distance from the world's single most deadly object, stands inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. As I waited to get a coffee at the tiny shop alongside the Zone's checkpoint, I cringed slightly at the array of glow-in-the-dark knickknacks on sale. Chernobyl, the site of the biggest nuclear disaster in history and now a slightly Disney-fied tourist destination, is a reminder that photography's "truth" is always a little suspect.

Given the choice, most of us would probably buy the latest and greatest camera bodies as soon as they came out, because hey, new toys are cool, right? But most of us don't have unlimited budgets, so it's important to know when you really need to upgrade and when it's just a case of gear lust. Here's what to consider when you're wondering if it's time to buy a new camera.

So, you just opened your presents, and you received that amazing camera you've been staying up late reading reviews about for the last six months. Rad! Now what? Here are the first 10 things you should do with that new camera.

We’ve had our first snowfall of the year here in the Netherlands. It’s one of those instances when most people stay indoors, while just about every landscape photographer is aching to feel the snow on their face. One of them is acclaimed British Landscape Photographer Simon Baxter, who I've asked to help me analyze the introvert mind.

How many pixels do you need in an image? Sounds a simple enough question and the inexorable megapixel race doesn't seem to have ended, in much the same way that the PC processor race marched on unabated for several decades.

In theory, crowdfunding seems like one of the beautiful perks of the Internet: any entrepreneur with an idea and the will to bring it to fruition can receive the financial support of interested patrons from all around the world, and in return, those patrons get early and/or discounted access to an exciting new product. The reality is rarely so rosy, and as a consumer, you need to be aware of that.

You've probably seen thousands of articles on screen calibration and you may strive to deliver perfect images and videos. Unfortunately, in the end, your client views them on their non-calibrated way-too-blue or way-too-orange screens. Sometimes they say "looks good to me." Other times the response may be "it's too dark," or "it's too blue." They may even edit your photos to make them look "better." How do you handle these situations and is it really critical for you calibrate your monitors?

Instagram has rolled out the Stories Highlights feature and it's definitely a good thing for photographers. The lack of hyperlinking ability within the platform by way of only being allowed one profile link is very limiting for specific marketing. If you have less than 10,000 followers then you do not have access to the swipe up feature on stories which can be a tremendous aid in marketing a certain promo. Instagram Stories Highlights is a step in the right direction for us.

Last week I was mailed a device that claims to turn a standard paper airplane into a drone. Could this possibly be true?

We all make mistakes when it comes to purchases we make when we're first starting out. As we continue to grow and evolve we continue to make mistakes. Hopefully, our mistakes aren't too financially costly like a camera body or lens that we don't need and never use. When I first bought my camera a couple years ago, I picked up an ultra cheap twenty dollar tripod because the store has one and I thought I would definitely need it. That was a mistake and that tripod was pretty much a piece of junk. I have since rectified that mistake and have found my personal favorite and best tripod I've ever owned.

Growing up along the coast, I became accustomed to beautiful views of the ocean and, of course, lighthouses are an important part of the New England scenery. One lighthouse, in particular, has long been a favorite subject of mine to shoot. I've spent many days and nights shooting the 67-foot-high structure and its surrounding area, and I always envisioned creating the classic image of a massive moon as it rises behind an interesting foreground structure — in this case, the Point Judith Lighthouse on the southern tip of Rhode Island.

The theme "toys" this week on the WeeklyFstop was a playful one. You may not think of it when you grab your camera, but adding a toy to a shot is a quick easy way to practice camera technique and composition. It is also a fun way to engage your kids and encourage them to help set up some scenes to photograph. Our readers put together another brilliant showing you have to check out.

Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between a technically accurate photograph and one that has been modified, enhanced, composited (you pick the word) in order to give it a broader audience appeal. Nature is both stunning and surprising in its raw magnificence which begs the question: why should we mess with it at all in photographs?

Procrastination is often the name of the game when it comes to aspects of maintaining our photography. Finding time and motivation to do fun shoots should be pretty easy throughout the year, but maintenance tends to be pushed to the back burner. The holidays season can be a great time to revisit some activities that can be a huge benefit to your photography but are often things left forgotten for far too long.

So your kid just started playing pee-wee football, or maybe you are a portrait photographer who just landed a sports gig. Maybe you’re shooting your first assignment for the college newspaper. In any case, while sports photography isn’t for the faint of heart, here are four technical tips to get you started on the right path.

One of the best steps you can take for yourself and your photography business is setting goals. Being intentional about setting time aside to write out all of your goals can be one of the most powerful business strategies for the upcoming year. Not only does goal-setting help to solidify where you’d like to see yourself and your photography in the future, it also helps to create a clear-cut business plan for the year ahead. If you’re feeling lost or aimless within your photography business, you may want to give goal-setting a try.

"Getting ready" is one of the most important sessions in a wedding because it kickstarts the celebrating mood of the ceremony. This post takes a dig into a few tips that would help you get better getting ready shots on the spot.

Technicality and equipment aren't all there is to becoming a meaningful photographer. In my own work it's actually the least important part. My favorite words to hear clients say are “wow, you captured the real me.” The following are tips to get these reactions out of your subjects. They have nothing to do with your gear, but will guide you to capturing your subjects the way they are when they're completely comfortable, instead of the nervous and self-conscious forms of themselves.

As the year draws to a close, I'd like to share a personal story of my own journey. While everyone's story is different, I hope that you are able to find some lessons in both my wins and losses that will help you to push forward and make the coming year even better than the last.

What do you do when worst-case scenario hits? When even after doing your best to prepare for it, it cripples you, and you feel like you're stuck in a depressive "Groundhog's Day" of going through the motions?

Fstoppers wants to say thank you to all our loyal readers with one final holiday sale as we wrap up 2017. Over the next week, we are offering $50 off a wide variety of our original photography tutorials. Visit the Fstoppers store to take advantage of these savings for your last minute holiday shopping and save by using code "HOLIDAY50" at checkout.