Fstoppers Original Articles

A man with a camera and a smartphone was questioned for twenty minutes in his own neighborhood after a woman called the cops, fearing he was taking photographs of children in the park across the street. It turned out he was just a guy who lives nearby and has been photographing his neighborhood for three decades. Was this a little embarrassing for the woman? She might feel that way, but there are two sides to this story.

When I started out photography professionally, I only wanted to do weddings. It was what I loved (and still love). I thought studio work was so boring. With time, I was convinced to get my own studio and started doing portraits, beauty, products, and other genres. It was great. However, after two years, I am about to terminate my studio lease and will not take a new one. While I love shooting in a studio, I think the cons outweigh the advantages. Perhaps they will not for you. Nonetheless, let me show you what I learned from my two-year experience of having a studio.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post mocking the new Holga Digtal Kickstarter campaign. Holga's PR team caught wind of my post and decided to send me the new Digital Holga. At the same time the Impossible Project sent me a Polaroid 600 camera with Impossible Instant color and BW film. Which is better? Let's find out.

Instagram is a great way to promote your photography business. Not only can you make yourself seen by potential clients in your area, you can also be seen by millions of users across the world. With more than 300 million users though, it can be easy to get lost within the massive crowd. There are a lot of things that you can do to help grow your following, but there are also a lot of things you can do to hurt your following. If you want your business to be the next Instagram sensation, then don't make these seven Instagram mistakes.

UPDATE: Results from our reader's poll can be found here! Last week we released our head to head competition review between the Sony A7RII, the Nikon D810, and the Canon 5DsR ultra high megapixel cameras. Our test put all three cameras up against each other and compared their performance in terms of ergonomics, HD video, auto focus, ISO performance, Dynamic range, and overall image quality when used in the studio. Unfortunately a bunch of Sony users complained that our final studio test wasn't up to snuff, so we did what any respectable review site would do and brought back baby turtle. The new results might shock you.

Our next episode of "Critique the Community" will feature natural light portraits. Use this awesome featured image by Dani Diamond as inspiration for your submission. While images which include the use of reflectors are acceptable, please do not include any shots that include extra light (flash or continuous) added by the photographer. Please get in your submissions by Sunday, October 18th and you'll have the chance to have your image critiqued by the Fstoppers team. For this episode, we will be giving feedback to 20 pictures. To qualify, you must follow the submission rules below.

Halloween is almost upon us. October brings the opportunity to photograph a huge array of exciting costumes. As a photographer who specializes in cosplay photography, I’m accustomed to shooting elaborate costumes all year-round, but for most photographers, Halloween presents a fun time to step outside of their normal photography box.

A few months ago I wrote a two part article on branding for photographers. In this article I will continue with branding for photographers, and why you should keep your brands separated. The most common thing I see are wedding photographers combining their wedding work with their family, baby, senior, and even commercial work. While I completely understand the tendency to not only simplify your marketing, but also the concept that by showing your multiple talents you will increase your value to clients, combining genre's is one of the biggest things hurting the growth of your business.

Last week we asked the Fstoppers Community to submit some of their family portrait work for the next episode of Critique the Community. We accepted anything family related, groups, kids, or babies and chose 20 of them to give feedback on. Check out the submissions below and listen as Lee and Patrick give their thoughts.

When DJI announced the Inspire 1 drone, I didn't get it. It was a much larger and more expensive quadcopter that had only a slightly better camera attached to it. I had no interest in the Inspire 1 until they announced the new Zenmuse X5 Micro 4/3 camera/gimbal system. I currently have one and I can tell you, it's pretty amazing.

The rise of social media over the past few years is undeniable. It’s come to shape our habits and behavioral patterns, as well as redefine social norms. So, it’s inevitable that the creative industry has been influenced too; but in a world where our brand’s worth is often dictated by our follower count, just how important is mastering social media to any creative trying to make it in the industry in 2015?

Welcome back to this series on editorial photography. Last week, we discussed the basics of preparing yourself for your first editorial assignment and shooting individual frames in a variety of different ways. There were a couple of questions in the comments, which I will be addressing in next week's post. This week, we will focus on multiple frames and making them work together. Specifically, we'll be looking to tell a story using multiple photographs.

When I started out my photography business, I was always told how important it was to have a strong and personal style. At the time, I did not understand what that meant. I knew all my pictures were too different to make for an impactful portfolio. I also knew that my retouching was inconsistent. But no one told me how to create that sought-after "photographic style." Even the word "create" was probably wrong. Rather, it appears that a style is developed and refined shoot after shoot, job after job. It is a neverending process. However, there are some points to help develop an impactful style.

A little over a year ago, I got to live out one of my worst nightmares. I had a day where the personification of my anxiety sprouted legs and ambled right into the middle of a wedding ceremony that I was photographing. Mr. Anxiety-Incarnate snuck into a church, and like a biblical plague, snuck right back out and took something precious with him. Never to be seen again was $12,000 worth of gear that was stored in my roller bag. That’s right, I lived out the photographer’s terrifying dream equivalent to showing up to a high school class naked.

With only two days left until the contest period closes, this weekend will be your last chance to fill out our 10 minute survey and be eligible to win some fantastic prizes! All entrants will also receive a discount code for Fstoppers Original Tutorials. Check out the survey details below.

As someone who prefers to shoot using natural light, I have realized that sometimes, a photo begs for artificial lighting. For years, I struggled with how many strobes to use and where to place them. I lost patience and focused instead on natural light. By spending the time to learn how lighting actually works, I eventually gained a better understanding of how to use strobes. In this article, I hope to share with you how to use just one strobe to create jaw-dropping results.

Success is something that we all strive for no matter what we are doing. Everyone wants to feel like they are doing well in their work and that they are accomplishing something. The advantage with this is that the line is constantly moving. Once you reach a goal, there is a bigger and greater goal to start reaching for. This causes us to continuously move forward, but because of this, our definition of success is always changing. I asked a handful of industry leaders, “At what point did you feel like a success?” Their answers are something we could all learn from.

It seems that a lot of photographers tend to avoid direct sunlight and for a long time, I did too. Occasionally, I would backlight subjects, but I would never dare light them directly with the sun. I decided one day that it was time to embrace the sun. In this article, I break down my methods for achieving a good photograph in direct sunlight, discussing what has helped me and what you should avoid.

This is some rather sad news I have to bring everyone. At the moment there are only 500 FlashDisc units left in our Amazon UK store and we will not be replenishing them once they are sold out. We are currently sold out of the FlashDisc in the US (more coming in the next 2 weeks), but because of logistics and the amount of administrative work it takes selling a product in another country, we will not be replenishing our Amazon UK store once inventory is sold out.

Our next episode of "Critique the Community" will feature family portraits. We will choose anything from kids in a studio to whole family groups outdoors; so, feel free to include a wide range of pictures. Please get in your submissions by Friday at noon (EST) and you'll have the chance to have your image critiqued by the Fstoppers team. For this episode, we will be giving feedback to 20 pictures. To qualify, you must follow the submission rules below.

One of the most valuable selling points that many of the world’s top photographers have is that they have invested in creating a signature look to their photography that builds a consistent sense of identity across their entire body of work. A very common question I am asked is how to develop your style. It seems to be a goal that many photographers are chasing, but have no idea how to go about.

Last month Fstoppers teamed up with SLR Lounge and BH Photo for an exciting camera giveaway. If you missed the entry post, basically we were giving one lucky winner their choice between the Nikon D810, Sony A7RII, and the Canon 5DsR high megapixel cameras. Yesterday we released our own review of all three of these cameras and today we are excited to announce the winner of a brand new camera!

You’re not a writer, so stop trying to be one. For the past 10 years I’ve struggled with the same thing, and that's website copy. I finally put that burden to rest and hired a copywriter. Here's why you should too.

If you thought the megapixel war was over years ago then you might shocked by the latest cameras released by Nikon, Sony, and Canon. The D810, A7RII, and 5DsR are the biggest and baddest pieces of artillery on the front line, and today the team at Fstoppers is going to determine once and for all which camera is the best. With enough megapixels to challenge some of the most popular medium format cameras, these compact full frame cameras pack a lot more punch than you would think. Don't believe us? View the full high res images and take the poll yourself!

Over the past few years and into the future, our Photo of the Day feature continues to be a cornerstone of Fstoppers. Featured on the front page as well as being published out over our Twitter and Instagram accounts, Photo of the Day’s goal is to give enthusiastic attention to the creative talent found throughout the Fstoppers Community. Fstoppers has the greatest readers and we love showing off the incredible work you create. If you are interested in having your photo featured as PotD, here are some guidelines to keep in mind for how they are selected.

CERN is a renowned international nuclear research facility located just outside Geneva. Straddling the border between Switzerland and France, it's home to the infamous Large Hadron Collider — the largest single machine ever made by humankind. It was built to find the Higgs boson, often referred to as the elusive "God particle." CERN recently hosted a small group of select photographers for a rare photo walk throughout their massive experimental laboratory, and we have an exclusive first look at the photos.

Ever meet someone who is so upbeat and happy that they can’t help but greet you with a big smile and hug every single time they see you? Ask anyone in the photo industry and you'll know, that’s Jaleel King.

Last week we asked the community to submit their automotive imagery to be critiqued by the Fstoppers team. Lee Morris and Patrick Hall went through a range of 20 images and gave their thoughts and feedback with the Fstoppers rating system. Check out the selection of pictures below and add your thoughts to the comments!

October in New Orleans means wedding season. This weekend was a double wedding weekend just like most of the next few weeks will be and I just finished what would be considered a timeline disaster, but the marquee images were not missed in large due to experience and meticulous planning. In this article I will go over methods to prepare for the unexpected and how to make sure you get everything you need despite the inevitable busted timeline.

The process of culling is used in every type of photography and is used by professionals and amateurs alike. Culling is simply the process of selecting the best images from a shoot to be edited and delivered to a client. When photographers first start out in the editing world, this process can seem like a waste of time or hard to figure out a best practice. So I’m going to explain why we cull and some of the best ways to do it.

I'm definitely NOT a studio photographer, but I respect and understand why for a urban running photoshoot like this one, it can make things a whole hell of a lot easier by doing it in the studio. Steve Brown shares some insight into his process in this behind the scenes video.

One of the biggest questions I get when photographers consult with me about managing their brand on Instagram is: "Should I create a business page separate from my personal page?" This discussion was started on the Instagram for Business group by Martin Bonden, who asked what I thought about creating a business page on top of a personal page, as opposed to having just the one. Here are a few reasons why I like to keep mine all in one page as a professional photographer.

As a self-taught photographer, I’m an advocate of learning through doing. I didn’t study it, but I can imagine that reading all the Photography 101 books that are available still wouldn't prepare you for actually being on a set, with a model standing in front of you, and a team awaiting your creative direction. In my journey, experience has meant everything. Here are some of the things I’ve learned over the years that may help when shooting your own portraits.

Are you as stealthy as a fog horn? Do you have all the grace of a dirigible in a sudden windstorm? Certain genres of photography — wedding and wildlife photography in particular — require a certain physical tact, an ability to be unseen. Check out our tips on how to capture the focus of an event without becoming the focus of the event.

Editorial photography is still alive and well, despite what the cynics will tell you. It no longer has the budgets it used to, and there are not as many publications to go around, but you may still get called on from time to time to shoot a series of images for a magazine. Editorial assignments can be extremely varied, and a challenge to do successfully, but they're extremely rewarding and often lead to meeting interesting people along the way. But where do you start when you get the call?

Retouching can vary from photographer to photographer. But it can also vary depending on the genre you are shooting. I know it does for me. My wedding retouching is far from being as refined and time-consuming as my portrait retouching. When dealing with hundreds of pictures, you have to find techniques that get you close to a perfect result, but as quickly as possible. One thing I had trouble getting my head around was maximizing my dynamic range in my wedding pictures without stacking multiple raw developments. That was until I made a lucky mistake when sharpening an image using a high pass filter.

I love cameras: all shapes and sizes, formats, brands, and styles. No matter what kind of camera it is, I’m interested in what makes it work and what makes the image quality different than others. I enjoy experimenting with 35mm film, instant film, and all types of digital formats. I believe that using different cameras is a great way to better yourself as a photographer. Over the past several years, I’ve developed a decent collection of cameras and the more I obtain, the more I try and jam into my bag. At a certain point, I started to realize that my obsession was getting ridiculous and it just wasn’t practical to bring all of these toys with me to every shoot I had. This being said, where do you draw the line? And what goes into deciding what camera to bring with you? If you're like me and enjoy experimenting with different types of cameras, here is an inside look at some of my favorites and what goes into my decision process when choosing which one to bring with me to a photo shoot or on an adventure.

Recently, I have been experimenting with creating a sort of more intense style of headshot for certain clients who are interested in a more surreal, vibrant, look to their headshot as opposed to the more traditional headshot which is designed to to more closely emulate realistic lighting. The heavy cross-light look uses powerful lights that are positioned perpendicular to your the main light to create a strong highlight to the side of the face while living a distinctive shadow down the subject's cheek. Heavy cross-lighting can do a great job of building a sense of three dimensionality without sacrificing the soft, flattering, feel of a traditional headshot.

Our next episode of "Critique the Community" will include any automotive imagery, cars, motorcycles, engines, or other vehicles. The above incredible image by Digital Macdaddy should inspire you to submit your best automotive photos below! Please get in your submissions by Friday at noon (EST) and you'll have the chance to have your image critiqued by the Fstoppers team. For this episode, we will be giving feedback to 20 pictures. To qualify you must follow the submission rules below.

With a concept of traveling back through your childhood and experiencing that care-free, fantasy world of "pure imagination," Permagrin Films has put together an incredible time-lapse music video. In the article below, there's a full behind-the-scenes video and the producers of the film answer a few of my questions in a brief interview.

While some physical improvements with Spotlight, Photos, Safari, and other Apple apps are definitely welcome with today's new OS X release, perhaps the most exciting aspect of El Capitan are the under-the-hood improvements for performance gains. There’s no need to explain how time-saving performance upgrades can be for working professionals — and for those reasons, everyone will want to update immediately. But there are some things to always take into consideration before an operating system upgrade.

Yesterday we released the iPhone Bikini Shoot, a video in which I do a professional quality photoshoot with minimal gear. The point of the video wasn't to say that the iPhone was a better camera than a professional DSLR, it was meant to inspire photographers to use the gear they currently own to create beautiful images. Obviously the iPhone is infinitely worse than any current DSLR for stills but surprisingly it appears to be a far better video camera than my $3000 DSLR when there is enough light present.

"Oh, this is going to be good," I chuckled to myself. Fstoppers co-founder Lee Morris had just posted an article and video called "The New iPhone Fashion Shoot: Bikinis, Foam Core, and Flashlights." I knew the response would be fast and passionate. I wasn't disappointed.

Brooke Shaden is an undeniable force of photographic nature. Not only is she well regarded as a pioneer of modern fine art photography with her dream-like compositions and self portraits, she is often as focused with helping us develop our own work as she is with her own. This week, Brooke throws open the doors to her “Promoting Passion Convention”, which aims to more than your ‘typical’ photo workshop. If you’ve been looking to spread your creative wings and be inspired to create by learning from some of the best in the industry, this could be exactly what you’ve been waiting for.

Recently our own Lee Morris shot a model photoshoot entirely with an iPhone 6s Plus, showing that with proper lighting technique, a good model, and proficient use of editing software, you can obtain professional looking results with even the most humble of cameras. Andrew Weber, a professional sports photographer, decided to take it one step further by capturing the unpredictable environment of a primetime NFL game with only his iPhone 6s Plus in hand. Weber was kind enough to answer some of our questions and provide a great sampling of his photos from the shoot.

Five years ago I filmed the iPhone Fashion Shoot, a 10-minute video in which I take professional looking images with the iPhone 3GS. That video was supposed to inspire photographers who assumed that their work was suffering because their gear wasn't ultra expensive. The video became extremely popular and became very polarizing. The majority of people thought my images looked good because I used fancy lights.

Sometime around 3 a.m. this morning, I awoke to a strong light beaming through my bedroom window. It was the supermoon glowing big and bright. I crawled out of bed, grabbed my camera gear, and set up a tripod on my tiny patio in Amsterdam to shoot the famous supermoon lunar eclipse — that phenomenon that happens only a few times each century.

Creating promotional video content for industrial and corporate clients is an often overlooked, yet very large, part of the market when it comes to the amount of work they can generate for production companies. A few years ago my business was hired to produce such a video, and I (finally) have the behind-the-scenes video completed to show how we put everything together.