Fstoppers Original Articles

Whether you want to speed up your computer, or simply keep your photo archive safe and secure, check to see if you're making any crucial mistakes that you may come to regret further down the road.

For many photographers, power is a major struggle. If you're shooting video or working in live-view, a battery charge never seems to last, so you're stuck carrying 3 or 4 batteries in your kit. X-tra battery is here to solve that problem and simplify your kit with one revolutionary accessory.

Producing a promotional video is one of the tougher kinds of content to produce as a videographer. These types of videos tend not to be super long; however, the impact they're required to make is what put them in that challenging category. In a recent video, we offer up some valuable tips to help you edit your promos more effectively.

In this week's article and video I go over my process of capturing an image from start to finish. Everything from how I found my location, captured the photo in the field, and my entire Lightroom editing process.

Your external disk is filling up with all the digital files, but before you buy additional memory storage to hold more of your photographs, consider doing something with the ones you've already created so far.

I have done some dumb stuff in my life — like really dumb. Ask any of my friends. And photography has been no exception. Here are some of the worst mistakes I have made as a photographer.

I love doing photoshoots for musicians. I get to be creative, think outside the box, and make something that will be seen by an audience outside of my bubble. So, when Toronto singer Tafari Anthony approached me to shoot his EP cover, I was all in.

If you haven't made any bad choices, then that just means you haven't been shooting long enough.

Not all that doesn’t glitter isn’t gold. For non-professionals and professionals alike, a second-hand camera or lens is often a cheap way to upgrade one’s own photographic toolbox. Here, you find some tips for making a good bargain.

Forest photography can seem overwhelming, chaotic, and hard, but if you follow these seven steps, you ought to improve a significant amount.

Despite the headline, I’ve always thought that Final Cut Pro X was cool. It still is, and it’s still my favorite non-linear video editor. That said, industry inertia has always pushed me to use Adobe’s bloated Premiere Pro, but Apple’s new Macs using their own silicon in the form of the M1 processor may have just given the industry to come back to an old favorite.

I started my digital photography with a Sony compact camera, and after a few years I upgraded to the Canon EOS 20D. I loved this camera and used it shoot many great photos. How does it compare to our modern cameras?

If you’re at all like me and you shoot film primarily and shoot digital only occasionally, the Sony a7 series cameras are a terrific system to consider.

Nikon dropped the price of its legendary D850 by almost 15 percent last week, and retailers have rapidly run out of stock as a result. Given the demand for a DSLR that’s more than three years old, is the idea of a D850 successor looking like a smart move for the Japanese manufacturer?

Sometimes, we like to frame and hang our vintage snaps of the family around the home, but the photos are torn or faded. Here, we'll be going through some steps to help restore the photos so they're ready for display on our walls.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Okay, not really, but choosing a camera these days when that same camera can change so much from year to year can make buying decisions all the more difficult.

There has been a flurry of reports about Nikon as the second quarter results hit the press, which show the manufacturer fighting to turn around the business but struggling under the impact of COVID-19.

Ever wonder how Google manages to render everything from bushes and boulders to bridge trusses and skyscrapers in amazing three-dimensional detail? In this article, we’ll find out how. It involves a high-tech lawnmower, a lot of computing power, and thousands of terabytes of data.

How many times have you had to buy a tool while on the road or borrow one from a building manager during a photoshoot? Over the years, I have built this small, lightweight kit so this wouldn't happen anymore.

There's a tool in Lightroom you have likely never touched or maybe just don't understand its purpose. The calibration panel is something I use in nearly every single photo I edit; let me show you why.

Images rule the world. Photo essays can visualize the rise and fall of the rich, the misery and struggle of the poor, the talent and creativity of artists, or the great work of average people, which makes our daily life possible. This structure can help you organize your first photo essay.

For as long as photography has existed, the art of deception has been front and center of the craft. You change photos, I change photos, we all change photos. Who cares, as long as the viewer is happy?

The cameras in phones aren’t working with much. Between small sensors and simple lenses, it’s impressive they can produce the level of quality that the most recent flagships phones are capable of. But there’s more to an image than just pure image quality. Do you want to know the 5 things cameras could learn from phones?

The age-old adage has served me well in most areas of my life, with cheap alternatives to products being short-lived and inferior. But one domain that I have noticed a shift is in photography, and I'm starting to wonder if it's even good advice for photographers anymore.

When we do a search on the internet, we will find an enormous amount of tutorials and videos about photography. It is about settings, equipment, lenses, post-processing, and much more. These videos can be very helpful to achieve an end result. And that’s what matters.

You buy a camera as a purely functional object: you want to produce images, and it is the tool of choice. Yet, as photographers, we become brand loyal partisans, identifying with the manufacturer. So, who has the best logo?

We’ve all been there – you have multiple lenses and sometimes there’s one or two that you hardly ever use.

Photojournalists usually pack a pretty standard kit in the field. A full frame camera is usually a must, along with the requisite 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses that can cover 90 percent of situations a photographer might encounter. For some of that other 10 percent, a really good idea might be to pack a 360 camera in the bag as well.

Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.8 has near-legendary status as the definitive nifty fifty — i.e., a small, lightweight, affordable, fast 50mm prime lens. The news that its RF counterpart is going to be almost as cheap will be great news for owners of Canon mirrorless full frame cameras.

There are many misconceptions or myths in landscape photography; here are seven worth forgetting about.

So, you want to change the color of something specific in a photo and you don't have Photoshop? Here's how to do it in ACDSee's Photo Studio.

Every time I think about how much 2020 has fundamentally changed my life and my profession, I am reminded that, while dramatic, this is hardly the only period of change I’ve experienced in the business. So today, I thought I’d have a look back at just some of the changes that have impacted my own career since I first started making money as a professional photographer.

Serious and pro photographers can't help but notice that AI is creeping into our craft. Maybe "creeping in" is not the correct metaphor. It's actually rushing toward just about every software application we use. Luminar was an early adopter, and their upcoming Luminar AI, well, it has AI in its name.

I was recently in L.A. filming a new project with Mike Kelley, and I decided to sneak one of my photos into a critique we did together.

Photographers frequently buy and sell gear, whether that is because they like to try different bodies and lenses or because they would like to upgrade their equipment. So, what is the proper way to sell your old gear? I think I have found the best place on the internet.

Nikon’s recent announcement of the Z 7 II and Z6 II, as well as their lens roadmap, paint an interesting picture for the future of the Z system. At a time when every other manufacturer offers increasingly expensive and exotic lenses and cameras, they’re going against the grain. Is that enough in today’s market?

One of the simplest questions that could be asked of photography, but surprisingly difficult to answer. What is the type of photograph you most enjoy taking?

There will always be a first time. Choosing the right camera for your purpose will help you with your first steps in photography. Here are some suggestions.

Photoshop's latest release included such things as sky replacement tools and the ability to change the expression of faces. This is in line with what other software platforms offer. Are these features helping or hindering creativity and the future of photography?

Adobe just released the latest version of Lightroom that removes the split toning module and replaces it with an updated version, "Color Grading." In this article and video, I quickly go over how to use the new tool, and I even edit a few photos along the way!

Now that sky replacement has become more effective and ubiquitous in photo-editing software, more and more photographers may feel tempted to give it a try, but is it a valid photographic tool or just a lazy way to save a subpar image?

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 2020, 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.

Photo Rumors recently covered the latest BCN report on the state of the mirrorless market in Japan, which showed a resurgent Canon growing at the expense of Sony, with Nikon trailing a distant third. However, the report only outlines what is happening in the Japanese camera market and only for current sales. How important is the Japanese market?

Our local high school had an idea to get senior photos taken for the young adults that have been working their whole life to achieve something, only to have it turn into an afterthought overshadowed by a serious global pandemic.

I first came across the compressed cRAW files when I reviewed the Canon EOS M50 a few years ago. The new Canon mirrorless cameras also have cRAW available. This compressed raw file will enable you to save even more images on one memory card without loss of quality.

GuruShots, host of "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” has released yet another fantastic challenge. Participants were invited to submit their best photos of "Incredible Architecture." The challenge received thousands of entries and millions of votes. Check out the three winners of the challenge as well as hundreds of top rated images below.

One of photography's most weathered tropes is "the best camera is the one you have with you," and yet, online courses, tutorials, and articles on mobile phone photography are met with a barrage of abuse. The dismissal of using camera phones as "not real photography" is just gatekeeping in our industry.

Whether you’re a film photographer who also shoots digital or a film photographer exclusively, a life after film is on my mind and should be on yours as well.

Pentax recently announced the K-3 Mark III, the third iteration of their flagship APS-C camera, which reinforces their stance that their future (and as they argue, the future of photography) is in DSLRs, not mirrorless cameras. With an industry increasingly focused on mirrorless cameras, why is Pentax going against the grain?

This year has taken a number of different tolls on people. For us photographers and videographers, one casualty for many has been creativity. Here are five ways you can keep creative during this testing period.