Fstoppers Original Articles

5G, the fifth generation of cellular wireless technology, is currently in the process of being rolled out, and it promises blazing fast speeds that rival some of the fastest hard-wired connections. And that has me excited, as it could significantly change the way photographers work.

When you look at an image, how do you interpret it? Is it able to inform you about what has preceded the events that are depicted and what is about to happen? The ability of an image to "speak" is something John Berger believed lifted it from being ordinarily graphic to providing a visual narrative.

The top question that haunts wedding photographers is: how do I get more clients? When it comes to wedding photography, get creative with your marketing tactics. These ideas to attract wedding photography clients will refresh your routine and expose you to clients you may not otherwise reach.

A strong critical reaction has led to Fujifilm pulling an advertisement that highlighted the work of photographer Tatsuo Suzuki. It seems that holding an expensive camera is not a license for an obnoxious and provocative style of street photography.

Camera manufacturers are keenly aware of how much photographers love their gear and in particular, how much they love extreme gear. As lenses continue to push below f/1 apertures and ISO capabilities skyrocket towards seven-digit figures, is the next major specs war going to be making the first mainstream consumer camera that can shoot gigapixel (1,000 megapixel) photos?

With all the discussion of the best camera on the planet or the most powerful lights, there’s a lot in a professional photographer's bag that goes overlooked. So today, I’m going to take a short look at what’s in my own camera bag.

If someone indignantly snorts that your image has been Photoshopped, it's a rather unsubtle way of them telling you they think your image is fake. But really, aren't all our images to a certain degree?

Canon has been playing catch-up when it comes to mirrorless over the last couple of years, but other manufacturers should brace themselves: things might be about to change.

Photography websites are here to stay, despite social media's best efforts. Having a website is really affordable and simple in 2020, but there are several faux pas that could be stopping your viewers from booking you.

I'd love to shoot the new Tesla Roadster, but being that it's going to cost a quarter-million and it's not even for sale yet, that wasn't a possibility. I got the next best thing, the official Tesla Roadster diecast model.

Lightroom has features that go unused by many users simply because they aren't out front in plain view. The filter bar is one of those features and is a great tool that you might be able to put to good use.

Let’s face it. Photographers make all the excuses in the world to upgrade their gear. When we do, should there be an evident difference in our photos?

In a world looking for more honesty and truth, one element of photography has become more and more pervasive. As the list of companies going "retouching free" grows, we are forced to take a step back and take a look at the practice. Is retouching really the problem it is perceived to be?

It might seem with the focus upon the remarkable achievements of the latest smartphone cameras that traditional camera manufacturers have realized they are playing catch-up and trying to chase down the proverbial boat. The truth is that they've already missed it.

Sadly, there is no linear relation between the effort to get a photo and the quality of it. However, if there was, mountain landscape photography would be of the highest quality. In this article, I will share five tips to upping your photography quality in the mountains.

Automations can make life a little easier. Learn how to create a unique Instagram gallery by using a simple action in Photoshop.

Having a new camera is exciting — playing around with settings and looking at the first results on your computer. It is very easy to set the exposure, and some basic settings are not difficult to find, but do you really take time to learn how your camera works?

Pets are considered by most as family members. Some prefer cats, others prefer dogs, and some even are drawn to the the flying kind of lovable companions. While most think of only photographing their beloved fur babies as a hobby, have you ever thought about turning it into a marketable portion of your company?

There were lots of preconceived notions I had for being a professional photographer. Some were right, some were wrong, and most were somewhere in-between. But there were aspects that I hadn't even considered.

Before you click the shutter, you likely think about shutter speed and aperture. You likely think about what you want the image to look like. But, do you imagine it displayed? When you shoot, do you take the time to think about what the finished product will be?

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 2019, 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.

Double exposures, when they’re done well, are incredibly impressive. The literature on how to do them is fairly limited, but here, I'll explain how they work and how they're done.

Like many 30-somethings, I came of age during a time when photography was transitioning from film to pixels. Entire years of my life were captured with early consumer and professional-grade digital cameras, and now I’m left feeling like that was a big mistake.

As time goes on, the tools and technology keep getting better and more powerful. Today, learn how you can take a boring seamless paper backdrop and give it life with added texture and easy to follow steps using Photoshop.

Recently, someone in our comments suggested a really cool idea, and we need your help. If you've been featured on an episode of our Critique the Community, help us with a future video by responding to this post.

With Nikon’s recent launch of the Z 50, speculation has continued regarding Canon’s plans for its APS-C sensor cameras. What to do to cater for all of those 7D Mark II shooters awaiting an upgrade is something of a dilemma, and a new rumor has sparked a fresh helping of speculation.

If you are running a luxury photography studio but have not starting using in-person sales (IPS) you may be leaving money on the table. The investment menu is key to having a fluid sales session. But did you know the importance of where you place the collections on the menu?

We live in a day and age where the phrase "Everything is relative" is the final word for many conversations and a basis for conclusions. This kind of mentality can lead to disastrous results.

As often is the case, the aftermath of tragedy has drawn my attention away from the cool gadgets and techniques of the photographic profession and caused my mind to drift back to the why. Allow me a moment to indulge a larger question.

I've always assumed I would continue shooting weddings with a second shooter for as long as I could, but maybe I have been wrong all along. Perhaps, I won't always need to.

Declaring the DSLR dead is premature. Sports and news image agencies are so heavily invested in bodies and glass that the shift was always going to take a while, but the Canon 1D X Mark III might have just put the use-by date on DSLRs back even further.

Do you ever get the feeling that people who make menu settings on cameras and manual instructions to follow are having a laugh at your expense by making things so confusing? Can you explain this Canon menu riddle to me? Because it's baffling me.

Many aspiring photographers get intimidated by landscape photography because of their unfamiliarity to filters. While filters are not 100% essential to learning landscape, understanding this topic before making choices can lead you towards better gear decisions.

A lot of things are said about photography that are not always correct. Many photographers might get the wrong idea about a lot of things. Are you one of those photographers?

DSLR users and friends of the mirrorless camera constantly discuss which system is the best. Is this discussion driven by unreasonable fear?

There’s been a lot of speculation about what camera Canon would add next to its new range of full-frame mirrorless bodies, and we might be a step closer to seeing what will emerge over the next twelve months. According to rumors, one is pretty certain, but the other two are a little more unexpected.

Sorry, Nikon, but why you ever thought that calling hundreds of different camera models COOLPIX would be a good idea will always confuse me. It's not just Nikon, though; camera names and naming conventions are a car crash of branding and lack of foresight. Why are they all so terrible? And which is the worst?

We all talk about the importance of finding your visual style, but do you really know why you need one? It's more than just being unique; a visual style is key to shooting photos with interest. And it's that interest that keeps people coming back.

Film photography is enjoying a bit of a resurgence at the moment, with many people flocking to it for reasons ranging from the abundance of cheap used equipment, to the enjoyment of the process, or the look of the results. And while film can certainly be both a fun and rewarding way to shoot, it is important to be aware of its downsides as well, one of them being the fact that it is not friendly to animals.

Recently I was thinking about the year so far and noticed that my output for the year was down compared to other years. Why was this?

If you were anything like me when you first started in photography, you probably took a metric ton of pictures of just about anything you could point your camera at. But what was the first photo you took that got you truly excited about photography? Did it change your path through photography or even life itself?

Photography is a microcosm for the real world, and in many ways, it mirrors it. Here are my top five rules for life that I've transferred to photography.

With Leica having just released the beautiful but insanely expensive M10 Monochrom, there’s a good question why other camera manufacturers don’t do the same. Would you buy an Sony a7M III, a Fuji X-M3, or even a Canon EOS Rm?

All photographers at every level have a similar problem. How do you know how much to spend on a new camera?

When the X-H1 was first announced, I wrote an article talking about how it was a disappointing release from Fujifilm. My thoughts about that camera haven't really changed; however, since rumors of the X-T4 started to circulate, I've had a think about the H series and where it sits in the line-up.

When I first started out in photography I didn't have any specific process to manage any of my images and files. This is one of the primary reasons I don't have many of my early images anymore. It's a shame because I was quite proud of some of the images I had produced.

If you're not a professional photographer, you're not alone. While I sometimes wish I had it in me to be a professional photographer, in the end, I do not. Alas, I believe I’m better for it.

Optical printing is a dirty and time-consuming process. The chemicals involved in printing are bad for you and bad for the environment. Digital printing hasn’t changed much of this impact for the better. The chemicals used to treat photographic printer paper aren’t great for the environment. The paper itself uses a significant amount of resources to cultivate. Do you ever wonder if there is a better alternative?

I have been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of some great advice over the years. In this article, I go over the five bits that have resonated the most with me and that I think of on every shoot.

With the release of Luminar 4, it has become amazingly easy to replace a boring sky with something more appealing. You only need to pick the sky of your choice, and the artificial intelligence part of the program does an amazing job in masking out the sky and changing it into something else. But should you use it?