Fstoppers Original Articles

First and foremost, gear is not the be all and end all. Creativity will bring the most out of the simplest of gear. We stand on the shoulders of giants now. Remember that it was only a few years ago that high ISOs were all but unusable and that once you'd shot a black and white frame, it stayed black and white. The fact remains, though, that understanding what your gear is capable of is the key to exploiting its strengths and weaknesses, which is where creativity lives. Learning a few simple things about what your existing gear is capable of will do more for your images than any shiny new purchase. Use these five simple exercises to learn more about what the tools you have can do.

I don’t get to shoot landscapes as often as I’d like, but when I do, I try to maximize the time I have in a place to the fullest extent. Many times, that’s just waking up for sunrise while my relatives snooze their alarms on a family trip, but eventually, when I started planning my own adventures, I had a hard time figuring out where to start until I discovered an incredible tool.

Back in 2018, I wrote an article about being a professional photographer and how viable it was. I thought it was time to update this.

There are 10 Lightroom features I use more than any other, and many of you reading might not even be aware of them, as they're often hidden away or require sneaky keyboard shortcuts, so read on to find out what they are.

The dynamic range of a camera is something that is considered to be important. A large dynamic range is often preferred. But how can you make use of this in your photography? In this article I will explain how you can use your camera’s dynamic range in post processing.

If you’re a budget-conscious photographer looking to buy a full-frame mirrorless camera in August, you should probably just buy the new Nikon Z 5. For the money, it looks amazing.

I know I harp on about gear not mattering. Nevertheless, there are individual purchases that I have made over the years that have had a real impact on my work. Having been a commercial photographer for some time, I thought I'd share my opinion on this.

It’s the equivalent of a presidential Twitter feud, but for the photography world. Everyone’s favorite Anderson Cooper lookalike Tony Northrup released a video on November 4 about the benefits and downsides to shooting raw files versus JPG files, and in this video dispensed some advice on when to shoot raw files and when to shoot JPG files (and when to shoot both). Naturally, this elicited a strong response from everyone’s favorite (only?) Fro, Jared Polin of “Fro Knows Photo” fame, who is known for his shirts indicating to the world that he does indeed shoot raw. All the time.

There are literally thousands and thousands of 35mm film cameras that have been produced over the last 100 years or so, and more are being manufactured even now. However, there's one camera that sits at the top of the tree, at least for me.

Since the introduction of digital photography our cameras are provided with a nice LCD screen to see the photo we’ve just taken, or to see the photo that we’re about to take. But be careful with these screens, they can be misguiding in some situations.

"Oh, so you're a photographer now...?"

It's a question I'm sure each of us has heard. Coming to us from a friend and/or family member that we haven't seen in a while, maybe those who we're remotely connected to on any one of the social media platforms where we post our work. It rings of sarcasm, and while I don't believe it's meant to hurt us, truthfully, it kind of does.

Most photographers have started with a crop camera when digital photography was introduced. Only after a few years, the full frame cameras became affordable and that is the moment when all the discussions about the effect of depth of field and crop sensors started, often with the mentioning of physics laws and mathematical calculations. Let’s try to find out with some real world examples.

What essential tools have you always wanted to mount onto your camera setup?

There's a question I've been getting in my inbox every couple of days since the release of the Fujifilm X-T2: Is it ready for professional use? There have been several articles floating about and a lot of opinions in forums, but the honest answer to this is the same as it is for absolutely every camera body and system on the market. It really depends on the type of work you do.

Fstoppers is teaming up with 5DayDeal and dozens of other leaders in the photography world for the most valuable photography education sale of the year. The Complete Photography Bundle by 5DayDeal contains $2,500-plus in video tutorials, eBooks, Adobe Lightroom presets, marketing know-how, and so many more amazing resources for just $117 (a savings of over 95 percent). This year, we've thrown in our very own tutorial, Photography 101 to be a part of the charity match bonus which will support some incredible nonprofit organizations.

We often aim to capture great expressions when cueing and posing subjects, but we sometimes overlook basic elements that may distract our viewers. In particular, natural pointers like our arms, hands, fingers, legs, and feet command a strong presence within images, but we don’t always recognize the power of their presence in the moment. While we surrender some control during truly candid moments, we should make every part of an image purposeful and keep natural pointers in check when posing.

It's important to remember that we are here to analyze and understand, but not be overly critical. While these tips/techniques are great in understanding the visual weight and posing elements within an image, they are not reasons to throw out what would otherwise be a great photograph.

Most landscape and cityscape photographers prefer to have images that are void of tourists, traffic, and other distracting elements in their scenes. One way to remove these eye sores is to meticulously clone them out in Photoshop, but what if there was a way to get a scene to look empty with a single exposure all in camera? Today I explore using a 15 stop neutral density filter for the first time.

B&H posted a Holiday Deal today that you don't want to miss. The Fujifilm X-T1 is being sold with an 18-55mm lens at 50 percent off. This deal is only available today so if you want to save $850 on a fantastic camera, there are only a few hours to do so. At midnight tonight, EST, the deal ends.

I use long exposures more often than not in my landscape photography, and I have done so for more than three years. Here, I share some tips on how to do it, but most importantly, why I do it.

Focal blending: is this a technique you use, or is it one that you consider cheating?

Most photographers try their absolute best to avoid ISO noise in their photos and some spend an age trying to rid their images of it in image editing software. But it's not as much of a problem as you think and here's why.

In the comments section of my last article, I remarked that "I always liked the rendering of X-Trans files on C1 more than Lightroom anyway, so maybe this is just the reason I need to make the switch back." A longtime contributor to the comments, Pete Miller, asked if that was indeed the case. Good question! Let's find out if the reputation Lightroom has gained for inferior Fuji X-Trans processing is still warranted.

In the previous article, we analyzed processor and motherboard options along with power supply and computer cases. Next, let’s talk about graphic cards, memory, and heat management issues. On the storage front, the introduction of affordable NMVe drives allows one to go past the bandwidth limitation of the SATA interface found on traditional SSD. Here is a short guide to help you navigate through the current offerings and avoid the marketing traps in order to build the perfect machine based on your budget.

When traveling (flying, to be specific) for a photo or video job, there’s a lot more planning and logistics that go into being prepared for not only the job, but living out of a suitcase, sometimes without the support of people available to help you. I’ve put together a checklist of things that I often need to consider when traveling for a gig.

One of the biggest frustrations I had when starting out photography was striking a good balance between all the aspects that went into creating a good image. I needed a system that helped me visualize the factors at play so that I could fully understand their impact on the work I was doing. So I developed something I call the shooting triangle to help myself understand all the facets that go into creating a good image. It is a system that works for me and maybe it can help you too.

Over the past decade, the realm of photography has witnessed a rapid transformation driven by rapid technological advancements. Cameras today stand as marvels of innovation, vastly different from their counterparts from just 10 years ago. In this article, let's delve into the technological differences between cameras now and those from the past decade, exploring whether these advancements translate into significantly better image quality and examining how technology has reshaped the landscape of photography.

After recently buying 200 tintypes from the deep archives of estate sales, eBay, and Etsy auctions, I became transfixed by seeking out if there was still anyone making imagery using this 160-year-old process. I found a wide range of Instagram accounts ranging from those just starting out to those with thousands of followers. These are the top 10 tintype photographers that stood out with their compelling visuals and dedication to keeping this lost art alive.

Yousuf Karsh is widely regarded as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the twentieth century. In this essay, I discuss five ways that studying Karsh's life and photos can impact our own work as portrait artists.

Creating something new is the most important ingredient for making art. But we can’t create something new when we just capture a scene in reality. The trick is bringing an artistic concept to your photographs.

When we create something like a photo, one of the most painful experiences can be receiving negative criticism regarding our photography. However, positive criticism can be equally damaging (and sometimes more so). Here’s why.

What makes a strong composition? Let’s talk about how you can achieve striking landscape photos in which less is more. Here’s a practical set of tips for minimizing clutter.

Fujifilm is due to roll out a new version of its slightly odd rangefinder hybrid later this year. How is it going to improve on the X-Pro2, which sensor will it boast, and will it really feature 5-axis in-body stabilization?

There are only a select few truly universal things that every photographer must have. While you may think of the obvious, such as cameras, lenses, bags, and other kit, we won't talk about any of these in this particular article. Instead, we will talk more about a service that every photographer must use in order to be a real pro.

After shooting more sunsets than I can count along the Pacific coast, I've experienced many different conditions and learned a plethora of valuable lessons. These are the most important tips I found throughout that journey that will help you the next time you're shooting along the coast.

Enter the world of high magnification bug photography without breaking the bank. Learn how to turn kit you probably already have into a close-up winner and take macro masterpieces at home in no time.

Spring has arrived, which means the time for gorgeous golden hour shoots in wonderful weather is nearly upon us. Sunset (and sunrise) are indisputably the most consistent crafters of amazing natural light for portraiture. The warm soft glow of the sun as it falls towards the horizon not only creates fantastic atmosphere but also some of the most flattering light that can be found. For portrait photographers the golden hour as the sun rises or sets is the perfect time to shoot.

Back in 2015 I was pretty active on Google+ and most of my posts would get over a hundred plus ones, which are basically the same as a like on Facebook. Getting this much activity on a public post meant that more people were likely to see it. Eventually this pattern resulted in five photos being selected and featured by Google on Chromecast. While I was excited about the honor, I had no idea how many views would come with it.

The S1 has just started shipping, and the reviews are a little mixed. Will it work how you need it to?

Over the years as a boudoir photographer, I have noticed a theme when it comes to new shooters about the "restrictions" they come across. Countless times I hear or read, "I wish I could upgrade my gear," "I just do not have a commercial space," or my favorite, "I just cannot afford to have all those set ups." Well quite frankly, that is a load of bull.

Buying equipment is as exciting as ever, if you ask me. While my tastes are probably slightly different than yours, in the sense that I buy '90s flash gear and DSLRs, I have been doing this for around five years and have come up with a few tips on how to save money when buying gear.

It's happened to me and it has most likely happened to you: you order a shirt and can't wait for it to arrive. Then it does and it's a completely different hue than what was pictured in the online store or catalog. Odds are the photographer may not have used a color chart during his or her shoot. There are many photographers that never learn to use a color chart at all, and others who won't do a shoot without one. Here are a few major points on how a color chart can help make your product photography color spot on.

Photography, whether photojournalism, documentary, sports, wildlife, or even landscapes, is much about camera placement and timing. But there are some fundamental mistakes that most of us photographers make that are barriers to getting great photos.

We all work so hard preparing, shooting, retouching, and giving our all to creating our images. After everything is finished and the photos look amazing, we can't wait to share our photos to the world! But how do we know we're uploading the highest quality photos possible? Last year, I shared with you all a preset that I use daily to export photos out of Lightroom for Facebook. In this article, I'll add to my list of recommendations and show you two options that I swear by and have tested over-and-over to make sure I share crisp not only Facebook, but other mediums such as my website; so you can share the same quality!

Every year, I run dozens of workshops for photographers, and there are always the same areas that even established photographers have not grasped. Learning the metering and exposure ropes opens a gamut of creative possibilities.

If you are a photographer in any capacity, chances are you deal with the same repetitive questions and comments from non-photographers when your photography comes up in discussions. It gets old, and despite it usually being well-meaning, I wish people would stop asking these five things.

As I wrote about before, I have always been the biggest Apple fan anyone’s ever seen. Especially with my background in graphic design, it only made sense to use an Apple computer. Naturally, as I transitioned into being a photographer, I continued to use nothing but Apple computers, and I do still maintain that they make an excellent, high-quality product. That said, it does come at a price, a rather hefty price that made me question things.

Unfortunate things happen with computers all the time. I understand that. But when a recommended Dell update bricks a Dell computer, I expect Dell to fix it.

When I wrote "Seven Things About Being a Photographer I Wish I'd Known Earlier," I wasn't expecting such a strong response. I had far more than seven things I wish I'd known, but I tried to trim the fat and keep the article lean. Well, I liked the fat. So, now I'm compiling the trimmings into their own article, although I don't mean to infer that these eight are less important than my first seven; they aren't. I also can't guarantee there won't be a further set in the future. Make of that what you will.

Have you ever heard someone say they do not want to go to Iceland because it is over-photographed and too mainstream?

How do you rate success in photography? Maybe, it’s earning a living from it. That isn’t a goal for everyone, but valuable lessons about successful photography can be learned from the business of professionals.