Fstoppers Original Articles

January 10 marks the 50th anniversary of Life's Apollo 8 issue. It's quite extraordinary to look back at these images 50 years after they were first published. The power of photography can be easily lost when there are trillions of photographs produced a year. The value of photography can be further obscured by a need for likes or the anonymity of hurtful criticism. Perhaps it's time to spend more time thinking about the good that photography can do.

We all know what art is, right? Or maybe not.

For any of you out there who are like me and move between PC and Mac for your workflow, or those who are considering migrating your workflow completely from the Windows world to the Mac environment, here is a simple step-by-step guide for moving over your most important asset.

Preparation is key when it comes to planning a trip to Namibia — a true land of extremes that can only be fairly described using hyperbole. As beautiful as Namibia is, to get the most out of your trip, you need to be prepared and well organized. Here are my tips for bringing back the best wildlife and landscape photographs from a trip across Southern Africa.

It is never easy to let go, whether it’s your favorite camera, light, or shoes that are just beyond repair. I’m the worst at letting go and don’t recall the last time I sold a light, if ever. The process seemed tedious and simply unnecessary. However, letting go can be much easier. Here’s the best way to let go of old equipment.

While people around the world prepare for the holidays, photographers have something else on their mind. For all of us it's that time of year to buy your conference pass, make your hotel reservations, plan shoots with friends and highlight the classes you want to attend at the annual WPPI Photo Conference in Las Vegas from February 26th thru March 5th.

Remember the cliché expression the eyes are the window to the soul? They aren't kidding around with that one, and when you capture a piercing look, you can instantly and easily grab the viewer's attention.

If you work as a portrait photographer of any kind, it's useful to work with the same makeup artist (or MUA) every time you shoot. You'll cut down on time spent casting and won't have to learn how to communicate in a way that works for a new collaborator every time. But how do you know that your new MUA is the one? Check these key factors that will make them a collaborator you can depend on, time and time again.

Many creatives are similar in a number of ways; we're self-critical, often riddled with doubt, and take losses hard. However, one commonality is tied up in all of these, and it can be highly detrimental: perfectionism.

Mark Zukerberg and the people over at Meta have just launched the new Instagram-adjacent app, Threads, which sees scores of photographers jumping ship from Twitter. Here, we unpack our initial thoughts on the new contender on the social scene.

A few years ago, on one of my first advertising shoots, I was asked to take a photo of a condo building downtown. All I knew was that the client would be bringing props, that we’d be shooting on a balcony, and that it would be night time. From start to finish, I wasn’t really sure how the ad was doing to turn out… and it turns out, years later, that’s still what tends to happen on commercial shoots: things don’t turn out how I think they will.

It's that time of year! No, not Halloween...It's Photography Trade Show & Convention Season! There are many expo's though out the year, but the two biggest would have to be Emerald Expo's Wedding & Portrait Photography International (WPPI) in Feb/March, and PhotoPlus Expo (PPE) in October. The latter starting today! So for those of you returning for another round at the convention center, and especially the first-time attendees, I've put together a short list of tips to make the most of your time and help you survive the convention-gauntlet!

Efficiently and effectively creating impactful black and white images of people can be tricky, but utilizing ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate's Light EQ tool, I've whittled my workflow down and kept the results just as high.

Since its origins in the 19th century, photography has proven to be a powerful medium for documenting human life and bringing awareness to social issues. When a photograph captures an injustice or iconic moment, it can resonate around the world and galvanize people to take action. Photography's unique ability to convey visual information makes it an unparalleled tool for social change.

Recently the studio hired a new assistant for the busy holiday season. While the intention was for light assistant work it quickly changed when the applicant mentioned they knew album design, retouching, and much more. Before sitting down with an applicant, have you thought about the possibilities of what more they could do for you?

Making a living in an oversaturated marketplace can be a challenge even without a global pandemic present to further shrink the marketplace. It takes a lot of tools, even some unexpected ones, to make it the distance.

Distorted portraits are all the rage in fashion photography at the moment, with elongated body proportions. Take it one step further by using highly reflective mylar during your next photoshoot. This article explains all you need to know to achieve this effect.

Our friends at ViewBug are proud to give away a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in the creative landscapes photo contest. ViewBug is launching a new contest series called the Newly Shot Series; everybody wants to see your new photos. Only images uploaded recently are eligible for this contest, so keep uploading great new stuff. Increase your chances for awesome prizes and bragging rights doled out. Moral of the story - upload awesome images every month!

When you begin your journey into photography, you feel gated by how small your arsenal of equipment is, despite the elders of the craft telling you it doesn't matter. But, is there a negative correlation between creativity and the amount of gear owned? For me, I suspect there might be.

In my last Fstoppers post, I shared an interesting video called Briefly, which discussed how and why a company or advertising agency might approach developing or executing a creative brief.

Remember, the brief is the information that you receive going into an assignment and client relationship. It can serve as your guide to understand what your client aspires to accomplish; a jumping off point to get your own mind working to produce concepts and content ideas. Some briefs are short; some briefs are lengthy and detailed. Some are open for interpretation; others seem rigid and strict.

It can be challenging for many photographers to get qualified leads, but there are steps you can take today to enhance your online exposure and lead generation.

As good as it feels to already know, it’s the learning that is the most fun.

Sometimes you don’t have to look far and wide for artistic inspiration. Oftentimes the answer you seek is right around the corner.

Do you sometimes have a feeling of resistance before a photo shoot? It happens to me when a lot of work is involved in getting a photo, and this resistance tries to prevent me from heading out. Over the years, I found that the bigger it is, the larger the reward.

If you've ever found yourself posting a photo in which you've masterfully designed your shadows, created asymmetrical balance, and selected a brilliant color palette just to see it wildly out-performed by a reel of a 20-year-old aimlessly walking down a sidewalk and spiraled into complete despair, then this is for you. In this article, I will walk you through how to shoot skillfully crafted images and easily stitch them into a stop-motion. The artist strikes a treaty with the Insta.

Following the success of their powerful drag and drop album design software, Pixellu has launched SmartAlbums 2019. The latest update is complete with time-saving features, workflow improvements, and faster performance.

When you are trying to build yourself into the artist you want to be, a little ordinary can help you do the extraordinary.

As I’m sitting down to write this, I’ve just had a quick peek over at the clock in the upper right-hand corner of my screen. It has just rounded 5:43 am, and I’ve already been at work long enough to have long forgotten about the sleep I wiped from my eyes when I rolled out of bed. To some, this might seem like an early time. Others might be wondering why I slept in so late. The exact time on the clock isn’t important. What is important is that this...

Since the pandemic, running remote photoshoots where the client is not physically on set has become more commonplace. In this article, I'll share my best tips on how to run a successful and efficient remote photography service.

The value of participating in non-commissioned projects in a photography career is very high, and photo competitions are a good example of that.

If you are a professional filmmaker or photographer working with a regular camera from any of the large makers, there is no simple and reliable way to encrypt your files in camera. To put pressure on camera makers to provide such an option, the Freedom of the Press Foundation released open letters to Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fuji, and Sony requesting that the manufacturers add encryption. The identical letters to five major camera makers were signed each by over 150 journalists, photographers, and filmmakers and sent out on December 14.

I've got just the perfect inspiration to get you started this year: a beautifully made film about travels in South Korea. It is very possible that it will give you a strong inclination to document your next trip, too.

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.

It has been our reality for quite some time now, but the effects the pandemic has had on the travel industry will continue for the foreseeable future. How does a travel photographer get through this without completely losing everything?

After nearly a decade of experience in the Toronto wedding industry, having met countless wonderful couples who work together and having had a lot of personal intimate conversations with industry pros, my personal advice would be to venture into starting a studio with your romantic partner with caution. Here are the top seven reasons why.

DJI’s Ronin 2 is hard to beat, but perhaps the latest option comes close?

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but, I think it's a good idea to hire a professional photographer that specializes in what you need. It's for this reason that I hired a professional photographer, despite the fact that I too work as a professional photographer. In this article, I'm going to discuss why.

When your personal life takes you into a new location, whether a few states over or even out of the country, your business does not have to suffer. Photographer Jonna Royer has a few tips to help smooth the transition and get you up and running faster.

The last thing you want to deal with is computer crashes in the middle of editing. If you have been in the business long enough you know it will happen sooner or later. Let's face it, electronics can crash, malfunction, or worse. Having a solid backup plan for your images is important to keep your cool and carry on.

As the winter months can be a slower period for portrait photographers, they present an opportunity to work more on your business, rather than in your business. One productive off-season activity for growing your pet photography business is to reach out to local retailers to create new co-marketing opportunities.

This method is widely used in editorial magazines. It's a fun way to look at different perspectives of your work combined. Sometimes it’s just not possible to capture everything you want in a single shot. The solution is simple – shoot two photos and display them side-by-side. I find that displaying two images side-by-side is a great way to tell a story photographically, and to create ideas that are not necessarily evident when one or the other image is displayed by itself. If you're interested in trying this technique with your own images, here are some of the tricks I’ve picked up along the way. Make small prints and lay them out on a large table to play the mix and match approach.

Most of the world is on an enforced break right now, which we can't do much about. But when the fog clears, what can you do if you find your motivation for photography has fallen off a cliff?

Last week, we looked at how to evaluate your own images before seeking critique. This week, let’s look at that process from the other side and consider how we can best offer critique to those who seek it.

As I continue to add content to my YouTube channel, I thought it would be fun to try something new and screen-record myself while doing an edit. During this process I remembered the importance of trying edits like this to familiarize myself with the programs I use on a day to day basis.

Oniric, from Composite Nation, is a plugin I've been looking for for a long while. Last year I caught an advert for it on Instagram and I haven't looked back since.

In today's fast-paced world of AI and digital photography, tools like Aiarty Image Matting are transforming workflows for photographers. Designed for creators and businesses, it uses advanced AI to deliver precise background removal, even for challenging images. As a professional photographer, I find background removal essential in most of my commercial work, and sometimes dealing with a complex subject can be frustrating.

There are very few professions where you get to shoot zombies for a living, but production photography is one of them. If you’ve ever wondered what production photographers do and whether you might like to try it for yourself, then read on because this article was written just for you.

This week we continue the A to Z of Photography with an interview with contemporary photographer Benjamin von Wong, renowned for his attention grabbing, fantastical images. We follow this with a history of Vivitar, a camera and lens manufacturer that didn't make cameras or lenses!

Pop quiz, hotshot. What is the best investment you can make in your photography today?

If you've ever experienced a flare or diagnosis of a chronic illness while being self-employed, you'll understand the overwhelm of navigating your health and your business interests. It can be hard to focus on rest and recovery when you're fearful about the longevity of your business and the cash flow you need to live.

There are a lot of things that go neglected during the pandemic. But while a little undone personal grooming won't harm anyone, leaving your printer unloved for some time can cause some headaches.