Fstoppers Original Articles

Exclusive articles and expert opinions written by Fstoppers’ talented team of creative professionals. Here we cover everything from the latest photographic techniques to advice on running a successful photography business, to first hand accounts of working in the photography industry.

Use Lightroom to Breathe New Life Into Wildlife Photos

Wildlife photography can be incredibly rewarding when things go right, but it's incredibly difficult to master. That's why when you have a good photo that's let down by a few of the camera settings, you should use Lightroom to transform that drab shot into something much more beautiful.

Shooting Through a Window? You Can Still Make a Great Image With These Tricks

Whether you’re using your iPhone or regular camera, shooting through windows and transparent surfaces can be one of the trickiest situations you’ll encounter. With just a few simple tricks, you can greatly improve the results next time you try photographing through a window.

If Cartier-Bresson Were Shooting Today, Would He Use 6K Burst Mode?

Henri Cartier-Bresson is hailed in the pantheon of photographers as one of the leading lights of his time. He is also inextricably linked with Leica. If he were shooting today, what brand would he choose and how would he shoot? It would of course be Panasonic and 6K Burst Mode.

The Photographer's Guide to Planning the Ultimate Fall Color Trip

My favorite season is about to hit the Northern hemisphere, autumn. With its riotous color and vibrancy, the forests of autumn transform into a landscape and nature photographers' playground. Here are my tips for planning your ultimate fall color adventure.

We Interview Tesni Ward, One of the UK’s Leading Wildlife Photographers

There are some photographers whose work you can learn from. Tesni is one of those whose wildlife photography is worth following not only because of her eye for a great shot, but her enthusiasm and knowledge of the natural world that also shine through in her images.

Create a Cinematic Orange and Teal Color Grade in Lightroom

For the past decade modern cinema has opted for the orange and teal color grade to provide a wonderfully cinematic feel, and thanks to the new tools in Lightroom you can turn your shots into cinematic masterpieces, too.

How to Pick the Right Wedding Photographer: 7 Tips You Should Know

If you're looking into hiring a wedding photographer, you may not have much experience with the profession. Although you can pick photographers you like, there is more to the story than just that. So, how can you make sure you're hiring the right photographer? Here are seven tips that can help ensure you aren't disappointed.

Fstoppers Photographer of the Month (August 2021): Kim Silver

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.

Are Godox Lights for Professionals?

There are two types of opinionated photographers: those who love Godox lights and those who feel Godox lights are not for professional use. Here are some considerations for whether the Godox system is for you.

Drone Photography: 6 Things to Know Before Flying A Drone 

If you're new to flying a drone, there is a lot to learn. I wanted to share my practical advice that can save you time and money. This is the advice I would give myself if I were to go back in time. I would hopefully have helped prevent some frustration and improved my ability to create!

Learn How to Edit an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait in Lightroom

Last week, we walked through How to Capture an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait. A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that captures movement around a subject using slower shutter speeds. Following the steps in the video, we wound up at a final raw image. In this video and article, I'll be walking through the editing process from start to finish in both color as well as black and white to get to our final images!

The Worst Things I Have Bought as a Photographer

I have no doubts that we have all forked out some of our hard-earned Benjamins on something completely regrettable, as I certainly have. Over the years, I have made some questionable purchases, and here are the worst.

Perfect Skin Texture in Portraits Using Lightroom

Perfecting skin in portraits is one of the hardest edits to do well, as it involves an interplay between removing unwanted blemishes and retaining skin texture. That's why in this tutorial, I'll show you how to make simple, well-balanced edits using Lightroom.

Has Sony Altered the Camera Market Forever?

The mirrorless camera was an innocuous enough invention that stemmed from Olympus' early innovation, but is it Sony that has managed to change the camera market for good and upset the CaNikon apple cart?

Advancing Your Photography With Photographic Essays

We usually see a photograph as a solitary work, a passing moment in time captured to be examined on its own. However, creating a coherent story through a body of work can lift your photography up to a new level.

How to Get Dramatic Clouds in Overcast Lighting Conditions

When photographers hear overcast skies, we immediately think of flat light. What this usually means is an overall lack of detail and contrast, especially in the sky. It might be easy to assume that the sky during overcast days is uninteresting, but I want to show you the opposite, that overcast days are some of the best times to get deep and dramatic images. In this video and article, I'll be walking through how to shoot and edit dramatic clouds during overcast conditions in Adobe Lightroom Mobile.

10 Ways to Make Colors Pop in Lightroom

Photos often lack a real punch when we import them for editing, this is especially apparent when importing raw files to Lightroom because it strips the shot of the overriding camera settings making them seem lackluster. Luckily, there are 10 simple ways you can make your colors pop once again.

5 Tips You Should Follow to Improve Your Landscape Photography

When it comes to landscape photography, there is always some room for improvement, but without new approaches, you may feel as though you've plateaued. These five tips can help you approach your landscape photography in new ways.

7 Reasons Why Photography Is Great for You: Some Well-Needed Positivity

The last 18 months have been a brutal procession of adversity and change, to the point where I have to limit how much news I read for my own mental health. In a similar vein to the Reddit sub, /r/eyebleach, here are seven reasons why photography is a great hobby to have.

We Interview With Scott Bacon, Managing Director at Nature First

As a landscape photographer, what is my impact upon the very thing that I love to photograph and how can I reduce that impact? This was the overarching theme of the conversation when I recently sat down with Scott Bacon, Managing Director for a group called Nature First, the Alliance for Responsible Nature Photography, to ponder this question. Scott’s passion for the subject was immediately evident, and I found him to be an engaging and committed ambassador for what Nature First is all about.

4 Ways Smartphone Cameras Have Improved

Chances are, you can't afford the latest and greatest thousand-dollar smartphone, and you'll have to make some compromises when it comes to the smartphone camera and features. Learn from my mistakes. Here are four modern features smartphone cameras have.

10 Steps to Incredible Landsape Composites in Photoshop CC

Capturing a great landscape photograph is extremely rewarding because a lot of things have to come together in order to nail it. But sometimes no matter how hard you try there's just a little something missing. In this walkthrough, I'll show you how to enhance your landscape images with a composite in Photoshop CC.

The Perseid Meteor Shower: 2021 Results

The Perseid Meteor Shower peak has come and gone for 2021. This year the Moon’s interference was minimal, setting early in the evening around the predicted peak days, but luck always plays a major role in anyone’s success.

Add Motion to Your Portraits Using Shutter Drag With These 10 Steps

We call this the "environmental shutter drag portrait." A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that uses slow shutter speeds to capture the motion around the subject. This technique is best done in a big grand scene full of action and detail. The eye-catching nature of these shutter drag portraits makes them perfect for impressing clients and serving as the highlight photo for every album and event. Today, I'll be walking through 10 easy steps on how to photograph your own shutter drag portrait.

Why Is OnlyFans Banning Explicit Images?

This week, it’s been reported from several news outlets that OnlyFans, the popular premium subscription service known mostly for explicit content will be banning explicit content from October 1, 2021 forward. Why would they do this? What are they planning for the future? Could OnlyFans now become a better option for artists and photographers?

Nikkei Market Share: Bad News for Nikon... Or Is It?

Nikkei recent published a synopsis of Techno System Research's Market Share Survey for 2020, a detailed paywalled survey of camera shipment data from major manufacturers. The headline is a 5.0% drop for Nikon, decreasing its total market share. This isn't great news for Nikon, but is it all it seems?

Why Your Photos Don't Have to Be Pin-Sharp

Focus and sharp images are always at the top of the photographer's priority list. But you shouldn't just toss out a photo because it's not pin-sharp exactly where you want it to be. In fact, there are many reasons why you should covet that soft shot over the others.

Use Toys to Push Your Creative Photo Editing

As a photojournalist, I often have subconscious blocks against excessive editing that seep even into other genres of photography. That’s why I often try my hand at toy photography when I want to flex my editing muscles.

10 Things Worth Knowing About Focus

There’s more to focusing than half-pressing the shutter release. Focus is one of the three most important technical variables in photography; it can make or break a photograph. Here are ten things, some basic, some more advanced, to help you shoot better photos.

Photographer Alfie Bowen, Champion Of The Overlooked

Ask 100 photographers what started them to pursue the medium, and you will hear 100 different answers. Follow up that question with what drives each of them to keep pursuing photography, and you again will find 100 different responses.

Why Yelp Is the Worst Place to Advertise for Photographers

Like many small businesses, I decided to use the very popular restaurant recommendation site Yelp to advertise my business after seeing they automatically created a page for me. Here’s how you can avoid the disasters that come with making that same mistake.

Have You Ever Tried This With Your Photos?

If you're not exploring all the possibilities that modern digital editing software offers you then you're letting potential earning opportunities pass you by. This article explores how you exploit different markets with single images.

Add Depth to Your Photos Using Mixed Lighting

If you’re a wedding or event photographer, it’s likely you’ve come across mixed lighting situations, and understanding how to work with or around it is crucial. If done right, mixed lighting can have a flattering effect and can add visual interest and depth to your photos.

We Need To Change How We Measure Experience in Photography

There’s always that one photographer who says they’ve got 40 years of experience, and their photos are at the high school photography level. Truth is, this happens quite often. Assuming they are telling the truth, how come someone’s pictures with so much experience look so much like a beginner's? Let’s dive deep.

The Greatest Mindset Shift I've Had as a Photographer

Self-improvement is paramount to success and a well-rounded, happy life, at least in my eyes. I am always looking for ways I can change for the better and learn, but the older I get, the more I realize that one change mattered more than most.

5 Things Photographers Should Stop Doing

Social media is the place for photographers to show their work and discuss photography. It is great looking at those photos, but there are also some things that keep annoying me. I have identified 5 things photographers should stop doing.

5 Reasons You Should Go to School for Photography

Earning a degree in photography is not a necessity for becoming a professional, working photographer. However, there are still some good reasons to seek out more formal training in the medium.