Fstoppers Original Articles

Growing and sustaining a photography business has never been for the faint of heart, but it is possible to do if you have an excellent, multi-faceted plan. I recently collaborated with Lancaster, PA based headshot photographer Richard Waine to compile a list of 20 steps photographers can take to get their phone ringing, and build a business that stands the test of time. These tips will be presented in four installments.

I think it is fair to say that streaming is complex, especially if you want to go beyond “Instagram live from a selfie camera.” Adding several angles, multiple cameras, and overlays is complex, and you would need quite a lot of gear for that. Well, say goodbye to that. RecNGo is a simple app that makes streaming affordable and accessible.

Modern cameras support fantastic image stabilization, and ISO noise is not a problem anymore. We can shoot freehand in dusk conditions and get stunning, sharp photos. So, have tripods become obsolete?

Today, I’d just like to muse a bit of some lessons I’ve learned over a long career as a professional photographer. Hopefully, some of these concepts will help you as well.

Being a photographer is fun. Or is it? The good news is that it can be fun. But you have to know some hard truth that photographers sometimes don’t tell.

We all love having a spot to ourselves, but many times, that isn’t possible. There are a few unspoken rules when it comes to shooting in congested areas that every photographer should know.

Modern cameras offer a wide variety of settings to change the behavior and customize to your own preferences. There are also a lot of basic settings you choose once and forget about it. Did you know there are settings you can ignore completely? I found eight of those.

Astrophotography can be divided into two camps: terrestrial and deep space. Both can be equally challenging for different reasons. But recent advances in technology have also made both more attainable and enjoyable.

The past four months I've been staying in many Airbnbs and hotels while traveling through Portugal, Costa Rica, and Panama. What I noticed while looking for accommodations were the often unprofessional photos those places use for their listings. Some were so bad that I directly skipped to the next listing, not even looking at the reviews. And it's so easy to create better real estate photos, even just using a cell phone, which I'll show in this article.

Mark Thompson is a Getty Images photographer with over 25 years of experience covering F1 races, including Red Bull Racing. I spoke with him to gain insight into what it is like to cover this competition.

Aputure’s new flexible LED panels may be the best in class. Intellytech and Westcott will have some serious competition. How do they all stack up?

Photographing the busy city doesn’t have to be complicated. If you don’t have filters and other specialized tools for landscape and cityscape photography, here are some tips to do it with ease.

Ok — let’s start with a disclaimer: I’m a fan of Platypod (both the company itself and the products individually). The most compelling photographs show us the world in a way we’re not used to seeing, which is where the Platypod excels.

Patrick and I have recently moved into new homes in Puerto Rico, and we have each been building our individual studios. I knew removing the echo from my concrete room was going to be difficult, but I didn't realize it would be this hard.

As photographers, we inevitably find ourselves dealing with that one client that causes us to take into serious deliberation the idea of working at the grocery store and throwing our illustrious career to the wind.

There are plenty of ways to get better images, we’ve all seen articles on which new camera to purchase, which new laptop will improve your editing, which courses to purchase, or where in the world you can visit to get stunning images. But what about some truly effective ways to improve your ability to get the shot without spending a penny?

Gear isn't always about megapixels, dynamic range, or pixel-peeping. This piece of gear has changed nothing about the quality of my photos, but it might be my favorite purchase ever.

Morning red needs some special requirements to appear. Find out how to plan and photograph red sky to get a masterpiece.

With every camera comes a nice strap, often mentioning the name of the brand. Although the strap works nicely, there are much better solutions. In the last decade, I have found a solution that suits my own needs. Since I often get questions about it, I decided to write an article about it.

Do you want perfect photos? If so, then maybe you are barking up the wrong tree. In your quest for perfection, you are losing an essential element from your images.

Wet plate collodion is a photographic process that dates back to the mid-1800s. It involves using antiquated equipment and processes, including toxic chemicals and is difficult to master. So, why would a modern-day successful commercial photographer be interested in pursuing this? And what insights could his journey provide?

With the release of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-75mm f/2.8, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the current list of options for photographers of all types.

Have you noticed the bigotry towards women in the photographic industry? It's there and I feel partly to blame. But some camera manufacturers and big photography businesses are the worst offenders.

One of the biggest questions that photographers face is how to find clients and make a living from the craft. There is money to be made with photography, especially if you find a good contract. Here is one such opportunity that will allow you to make money with your photography.

You've probably never used a circular fisheye lens properly, which is to say in the manner it was designed. It's okay, almost no one has.

At Fstoppers we love having our readership contribute articles to the site. There is a dedicated link on our contact page that makes it easy to send in your pitch. Your suggestion is sent to all of the Fstoppers writers and this gives you many opportunities for someone to find your pitch interesting and have it be published on the site.

When I was first starting out, I got deeply into conversations about style. What is this thing that will get me hired? How do I get it? Recently, I’ve realized that a photographic style isn’t the be-all and end-all magical thing that many beginner photographers think it is.

When it comes to retouching, or more concretely, the removal of unwanted objects from photos, there are a few things you can do to make the editing a lot easier. In this article, I share three questions you can ask yourself in the field before taking your photos. Those questions will help you to get much better starting material for your retouching.

Seven years ago, I have stopped using photography rules, which massively improved my photography. But there is one rule that makes the difference between an average shot and a masterpiece. And it is something different than you might think.

A lot of new lenses are amazing. Although the quality of the predecessors was already good, the new generations are even better. But with the amazing quality comes a size, weight, and prize. You should ask yourself if these are the lenses you need.

Shooting on location can be a stressful time. So, what are some of the questions I ask myself before heading out into the wild?

Lost your photography mojo? It's something that happens to us all and not just once, it's a part of life but let's not get philosophical here, let's just look at a few ways to reinvigorate your photography.

Following on from my article about the seven elements of art and how they can perfect your photography, I thought I would share a summary of the principles of art. Knowing how they work can make all the difference to how well your compositions work.

Cameras on phones have gotten incredibly good in the last five years, but can their images hold up in print? I wanted to find out, and the results blew me away.

Like it or not, video is the preferred means of communication for most content creators these days. A quick look at Fstoppers itself proves that. Even when it is a photographer who is providing information to other photographers, video is the medium of choice.

A few weeks ago I published an article here on Fstoppers about handheld focus stacking. In this article I share my in-the-field workflow, as well as the automatic stacking option Photoshop offers to put all images together during photo editing. This option has its limitations though and because I lately had to work on some very complex stacks, I had to look for a better solution. And with Helicon Focus I found it.

I didn't ever intend to be a professional photographer, I didn't even intend to be a part-time photographer. Nevertheless, I am approaching 10 years of making money from my camera, and I took the time to write down some key lessons and takeaways.

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 2021, 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.

When starting out in photography, we get busy trying to understand the basics: shutter speed, aperture, composition, etc. As we progress, we start to care about much subtler things, such as color reproduction, sharpness, and, of course, color accuracy. But is color accuracy just a myth? Let’s find out.

I have had an Instagram for a while now. Having tailored my account to photography, Instagram has been the backbone for my social media presence. But I, as well as most creators, don't like using it. We still do, though.

Technology moves quickly, and it only takes a few generations for there to feel like a profound divide between age groups. What do you think the next generation will not know about the photography of today or will be surprised by?

March brings the Spring equinox, hope for improved weather, and the possibility of a marathon road trip through the sky via the Messier list of astronomical objects. Note: it’s not supposed to be a “messy” list.

Photos are, at their essence, about acting as a witness to a feeling or emotion. Neal Treadwell and Hugh Nini's accidental collection, 100 Years of Men in Love, is a witness to love and hope. Showing on HereTV, David Millbern's documentary about Nini and Treadwell's collection is well worth the 60 minute investment.

Whether you are just starting your journey or are a seasoned veteran, allowing yourself to fail can be difficult as an artist. Yet, it continues to be the absolute best way to improve your work.

Everyone knows that photographing small children is extremely challenging. But you haven’t lived until you’ve attempted to photograph your kids.

It’s important to have a subject in your photo. Without a subject, a photo may be less interesting to look at. Sometimes, the subject is easy to spot, but at other times, it might be more difficult. You can get some help from Lightroom to check if your photo has a subject.

Do you consider yourself a successful photographer? Is that something you want to be? How do you even measure that? There are certain things that all top photographers have, whether as amateurs or professionals. The Canon R5 isn’t one of them.

As a photographer, you inevitably meet a lot of other photographers in the industry. As much as I am not a fan of putting anyone in a box, it is still lots of fun and can make for some great jokes. In this article, I will do just that: list the seven most common photographer types I met.

Have you ever struggled with getting creative in your photography, but whatever you have tried, it didn’t solve the problem? Artists think in a very special way. Knowing how can massively change your photography.

There are many staple lenses in portrait photography that are recommended to beginners and professionals alike. However, there is something of an unsung hero lurking in a different genre entirely that could complement your gear arsenal perfectly.