Fstoppers Original Articles

Digital cameras are so pervasive in photography that it is difficult to remember a time when it was only possible to shoot on film. Yet as pervasive they are with the market is only about 30 years young, what are the six greatest "firsts" that we have seen in that time?

Every day there is an unreadable amount of content that purports to tell you how to achieve success in everything from Instagram to business, but there's one important ingredient that is often missed out. And it's inconvenient.

Every day, we are exposed to thousands of images. Some of them are breath-taking, while others might be a little disappointing. Probably, you’ll find yourself in between. Is it even healthy to compare your work to others?

We are living in an exciting time, where software and machine learning are rapidly changing the way we approach work. For some industries, artificial intelligence will destroy job opportunities, but for other industries, it will revolutionize productivity. How will photography and the retouching world fare as editing software begins using this exciting technology?

We at Fstoppers do our best to keep the photography community informed of noteworthy holiday deals. Since Black Friday week is here, we wanted to let you know about some deals we've heard of from various photography and video companies. Some of these deals are only available for a very limited timeframe, so if there's something that piques your interest, make sure to act on it now!

Since I began photographing events, I've been paying close attention to the amount of images I've shot per hour. Why should you? Because overshooting creates problems.

When I moved from Canon to my Sony a7 III late last year, the first lens I ordered was a nifty fifty: a cheap, incredibly lightweight, relatively fast 50mm prime lens that’s good for portraits, landscapes, and pretty much everything in between. Given that this affordable lens is so universally loved and has such an important role, why does its future look so bleak?

Knowing where to start when you first venture into marketing your photography can be a real challenge. Here are some tips that should help to point you in the right direction.

We photographers don’t always get the perfect sunset or clear starry night sky every time we head out to photograph desolate areas or national parks. This is when we can take a little post production know-how and can still create other worldly and dreamy images that capture the viewer’s eye. Skylum Software's Luminar 4 has just made that scenario easier and faster to do with its all-in-one software and very powerful artificial intelligence.

What started as a quiet local story in Louisville, Kentucky is quickly becoming national news. Early Saturday morning, USA Today published an opinion piece written by wedding photographer Chelsey Nelson in which she proclaimed herself a victim of Louisville’s Fairness Ordinance.

Often you get one lens included when buying a camera. But what if you want another one, which one do you need to buy? This article may be of help when choosing the best lenses for your photography.

Apple has removed all reviews from their website and it might be my fault.

Not everyone reading this is going to want/need the new Rhino Arc II, but it's so well designed, you're still going to appreciate it.

The love for mirrorless bodies and pancake lenses is bottomless, but what about heavier setups? I can't be alone in my appreciation of them, surely.

One of the things that I enjoy about Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw is that there is often more than one way to perform the same task. Perhaps the most flexible of these ways are all the different methods you can use to adjust for colors and tones.

Do you want your images to look “good”? Aesthetics will help you understand the value of an image beyond its informative and representative character. Let's ask some great philosophers what they think about it.

There’s no question that the New York Times photo of American diplomats William Taylor and George Kent, where they detailed their uncomfortable and suspect dealings with President Donald Trump’s handling of a phone call with the president of Ukraine, is going to be one of the iconic ones of our time. There’s also no question about who overwhelmingly seems to dominate the photojournalism field based on this photo: white men.

Have you traced back your interest in photography and the arts to its origin? What or who was the catalyst?

The holiday season is the best time to buy a new monitor; with Black Friday right around the corner, now is the perfect time to update your most important tool for editing. But do you know what to look for? Let's discuss what important qualities you should be watching for and go over some highly rated monitors for photo editing.

Since the mid-2010s, there have been more photographs taken each year than existed in the history of photography. The democratization of photography and the removal of barriers to entry means there are also more professional photographers than ever before in history. Given this steep competitive curve, how is it possible to stand out?

The moment you start working as a photographer for money everything changes. While there are many positives when it comes to being paid to shoot, there are lots of headaches along the way too. Here are seven annoying things that clients will try to do to you, and how best to keep the upper hand in those situations.

A recent article by boss man Cookie reported how the demand of DSLR cameras may delay a professional mirrorless camera from Canon. It makes some sense that Canon would concentrate efforts on a system that still has a great deal of demand, however, I wonder if this an excuse or a mistake?

Most people don't like their photograph taken. So if, as a photographer, you've taken an image of someone and they don't like it, is it your fault?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines accident as “an unpleasant event that happens unexpectedly and causes injury or damage.” Accidents happen. It doesn’t matter how careful you are or how much common sense you have. That’s why they’re called accidents.

Today, we have the conclusion of my three part series having a look at the Fuji GFX 100 in actual practice.

It is properly difficult to overstate how much different large format photography is compared with 35mm or 120 film, much less digital. Is it worth it?

As creatives, finding a cost and time-efficient way to keep our files safe is possibly one of our more mundane but necessary tasks. For years, I have been purchasing hard drives and running my backups manually for the most part with Backblaze being used for off-site backups. As my archive grew, however, this became cumbersome. After much searching, I settled on the QNAP TR-004 as my new solution and I’d like to share my experience with you today.

There are numerous articles that are discussing the advantages and disadvantages of hot lights and LEDs. Knowing these, I want to share my opinion from a practical standpoint.

For the last month, we've teamed up with Wix for a series called "How to Build a Website." In this series, Lee and I talk about some of the advantages and mistakes photographers make when creating their own website. Today, we are releasing the last video in the series, and it might be the most important information in making sure your photography business becomes a success financially.

Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) is something photographers deal with all the time: that feeling you get by purchasing something that you think might be the one tool you need to really upgrade your work. Here are some ways to manage these impulses and stop you from buying unnecessary gear.

GuruShots is a website that hosts, "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” in which it invites participants to submit their best photos to various challenges. They have receive thousands of entries and millions of votes and recently hosted the "Amazing Men" challenge. Check out the three winners of the challenge below as well as the 100 top rated images below.

When you need a quick tutorial for Photoshop, I can bet my old Fuji that you will end up searching for it on YouTube. Am I right? But, is it actually that good of a learning tool?

Sigma has recently announced that it will be releasing a brand new 24-70mm f/2.8 Art for Sony full-frame cameras, and the price is quite remarkable. Given the sudden shift from DSLR to mirrorless cameras, you’d think that lens manufacturers would be struggling to keep up, but despite that, there’s probably never been a better time to buy third party glass.

The landscape of the portrait photographer has certainly been in flux over the last decade, in which time we’ve seen photos of people go from unreal alabaster-like skin to something much more real, color grading become prominent, and image resolution grow, even though the consumption of images has moved largely to smaller screens.

Davenport, Iowa: A photographer who was looking forward to relaxing is totally happy to bring his camera to Thanksgiving dinner to "take a few pictures." Really. No problem at all. Who likes to relax anyway?

With Instagram gradually rolling out the removal of the number of likes an image gets being visible, a lot of reactions have surfaced: confusion, animosity, and for some — like me — excitement.

Call it a personal project or way of finding the calm again in photographs, lately I've been shooting a portrait style “sad flower” collection and I love it. Check out the how and why and if it tickles your fancy you can give it a try too.

Vision has always been a worn-out term when talking about photography. But how far does vision actually go in your creative process?

The announcement of Night Mode promises “low-light shots never before possible on iPhone.” Between the new mode and the addition of a truly wide lens, the iPhone is more competitive than ever. But do the shots actually hold up in the field? I tested against my Nikon Z 7, with surprising results.

One thing I am always thinking about is consistency. This goes for every aspect of shooting. Does this fit my style? Do these photos flow together? Am I editing these photos exactly the same every time? Consistency is an important part of photography you might not be considering.

Have you ever used on-camera flash with disappointing results? In that case you probably didn't use the on-camera flash in the best way possible. With these tips you should be able to get much better results.

For those of you who keep hearing about Capture One, but wondering if it’s worth the trouble, this one might be for you.

Alexa, Siri, Cortana, and Assistant are here to help, and that has led to a home invasion not seen since the Body Snatchers first lifted B-rate movies in 1956. Voice control is here to stay, so how can photographers make use of it? Here are seven of the best queries.

When just starting out, It's easy to think that we need more gear, different gear, or just one more modifier that will let us achieve our goals. I challenged myself to try and shoot five different looks in my humble home studio with a single modifier and light to show just a few ideas of what you can do with them.

Virtual Copies and Snapshots are powerful features in Lightroom that often go unused or underutilized. In this article, we'll cover what they are and how they can be used to make your editing workflow faster and easier.

As a photographer you may not have had any experience in creating or editing video material, but maybe you should consider opening yourself up to learning new skills to not just enhance your marketing materials, but perhaps also start offering something different to your clients that can make you stand out in the crowd?

This is part two of my three-part, unreasonably in-depth real world shooting review of the GFX 100 after having shot with it as my primary camera professionally for the last three months.

Of course, it's possible to capture great landscape photographs without multiple filters, but purists like getting things right in camera. To do that, you're going to need not just a single filter, but a filter system.

“Is it difficult or different” should be the stock response to commentary that Capture One is either difficult or has a long learning curve, because the two terms are often conflated, and the reality is C1 is easy (especially the latest versions).

So, you shoot Fujifilm and need to achieve 16mm f/2.8 and you're not sure how to get there? Let this be your guide.