Fstoppers Original Articles

For the last week we have been receiving submissions for our Photoshop contest to say farewell to Chelsey. She has chosen five winners to receive a free Fstoppers tutorial.

The Super Bowl isn't only a competition to find out who is the best football team in the NFL, it's also a competition between mega brands to produce the year's best commercials. This year, NBC charged at least $5 million per 30 seconds of ad time. Who do you think got the most for their money?

A few months ago we released the landscape photography tutorial Photographing The World 3 with Elia Locardi. Today, the behind the scenes series on the creation of that tutorial continues with Episode 11.

Not many of us can say that we’ve shot on every single continent, but Kenneth Browne is here to tell us how he dealt with one of the toughest shooting locations on earth.

Some people say that you shouldn't work for free because it devalues your work, while others say that you have to do some in order prove your worth in a world saturated with photographers. I know, I know: doing free work has been talked about ad-nauseam on every site and forum across the web. But I know better than everyone else, so prepare to get more nauseous. Grab a bucket and strap yourself in, folks.

At this year’s Outdoor Retailer trade show in Denver, Colorado, the biggest names in the outdoor industry came together for one event to show off their latest and greatest to the world. While most of the products at the show were geared more toward outdoor equipment and snow gear, there were brands unveiling products that most photographers and videographers who work in the outdoors will be extremely excited about.

Hidden within the heart of Adobe Photoshop is a filter that many are familiar with, yet most fail to use to its full potential. It is a powerful, all encompassing workhorse, and its abilities may just change the way you approach your Photoshop edits. Ladies and gentlemen, let's explore the often ignored Camera Raw Filter.

Do you have old photographs just hanging around on your hard drive, taking up space? If you do, then perhaps you should consider uploading them to Adobe Stock. You never really know what sort of image someone out there is looking for - they might just want to use that shot that you currently have buried away in the archives. Sometimes, these old shots may require a little bit more work in order to ensure that they will measure up to stock submission standards, but the opportunity to make revenue on work you've already shot makes it a worthwhile venture. If you have old files you want to breathe new life into, the following guide for prepping and submitting those archived shots is just for you.

Update: We are extending this contest one more day. Tomorrow, Chelsey and I will film a critique of each submission and choose one or more winners.

If you have a camera, a love for video, and a couple of hours to spare each week, then a sneaky little side gig in stock video creation might just be the perfect thing for you.

Cedar Wright is a master of not taking life too seriously (an infectious attitude that spills into his work), as well as creating content of professional athletes dangling from rocks, high above the ground. But what makes his approach to photography and filmmaking so successful? And what's the secret to winning award after award for his climbing films?

For me and many photographers that I know, compositing and post-processing is fine, even needed in many cases. The thing that we all seem to get wrapped around the axle about is when a fellow artist is not entirely forthcoming about how a work was produced.

A few days ago, I published a copycat video on my Vimeo account. After the video was first shared by DPReview, the file became viral and got shared hundreds of thousands of times all over Internet. How did I produce this little funny video? How does having 250,000 views per day affect your visibility and social network accounts? And finally, what does this video really mean?

"How did you retouch that?" This is the common question I see most when I post my images online. Unfortunately, answering that question directly won't get photographers any closer to being able to replicate that style on their own. In order to broaden the dialog here are five things you must understand if you want to get skin looking beautiful in your portraits.

For our New Year's Resolution, Lee and I decided to attempt to post 30 new videos to our YouTube channel throughout the entire month of January. We were not only curious if we could find the drive and motivation to complete such a feat, but we also were curious what sort of traffic, advertising income, and excitement it would bring to Fstoppers.com. Here is what we found out.

First off let me just say thank you to all the new people who joined in this week. Having the unique hashtags every week has made it clear how many people are playing and we broke 100 photos submitted in a week for the first time ever. While quantity doesn't always equal quality, I think you'll agree that the level of these shots is up there with our best weeks. I guess that shouldn't be surprising seeing the theme was "favorite" and not "worst ever."

Peter Lik, whom many believe is the world's most successful photographer, recently released an image that is pretty unbelievable.

The art and business of photography has had no trouble in inspiring millennials into finding a path to success within the field. Twenty-somethings have embraced the use of new technologies in their workflow, marketing, and creativity, but there is one lesson on reaching your goals that has not changed since the dawn of commercial photography.

For some of us becoming old may be a thing of a distant future, for others it may be a day-to-day experience. However, for many of us "empathy for our older population is lacking, and audiences need reminding that we are all aging and old people need to feel the joy of human interaction too". This is one of many reasons why photographer, known simply as "Z", has put together a photographic exhibition to highlight the legacy of those who may find themselves lonely and forgotten.

The camera never lies — it doesn't, it can't, because it's an entirely quantitative device. It counts photons, collecting, recording the number that arrive at the sensor. And for the digital camera, this is an entirely electronic process that is digital end-to-end, producing a number as the final result. It's at that point that we convert it back to analogue (as brightness) for our eyes to interpret. The camera never lies.

Photography is complex. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll state it again: it is not easy. There’s so much to learn in order to become proficient in the art. Cameras, composition, light, and subject interaction. These are just some of the things that will decide if you’re able to do well. The key to learning each of these things is time. Time, and a sprinkle of perseverance, will get you so much further than any new gear purchase you can make. Today, I’d like to take a look at how we can learn some elements of our photography and further our craft.

So much of photography is built on social relationships. Models, makeup artists, hair stylists, designers, and assistants all play a crucial role in contributing to the creation of an image. At the center of the photographer's work is the model, yet photographers may find it difficult to reach out to modeling agencies for collaboration. This article will describe some best practices to start and maintain relationships with modeling agencies and their models that may enable you to further develop your portfolio.

With the new year now well underway, I took some time this week to ponder my motivations for doing photography in the first place. I think it is healthy to every now and again stop and evaluate where you are, what you’re doing, and whether or not it is worth spending your precious time on. Maybe there are some nuggets of useful information from this exercise that will prove useful for you. If nothing else, perhaps it’ll nudge you to reflect on your own photographic journey and help you get to where you want to go.

Frequency separation has long been a popular technique for skin retouching. However, for a lot of photographers new to photo editing, beauty retouching, and ACDSee, it can seem like a very difficult process. Within ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2018, the process has been made easier with the addition of an automated frequency separation tool.

As I was browsing Facebook, my attention was caught by a short video made by Arthur Nguyen. The brief video depicts demolition of two university residence buildings but what got me hooked was the way Nguyen recorded and edited it, which made me want to watch it several times in a row. I reached out to the young artist behind this video to find out more about why and how he created it (and on a student's budget!).

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 2017, 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.

As some of you may or may not know, there has been a weekly photo theme running here on Fstoppers called the weeklyFstop. It is very easy to join in and the themes change from week to week so everyone's strengths and weaknesses get a turn. This week the theme is "favorite" which should cater well to all genres and skill sets. The real beauty is that you don't need a large following to join in. A number of our featured photographers haven't even passed 100 followers. This fact, one might argue, makes our list one of the most unique around. We'd love to have you join in and show us your favorite thing to capture.

Every holiday season (and sometimes in between), we see the typical high-end pet photography shoots as excellent photographers put their time, money, and skill into creating impressive setups and wall-worthy images to help breathe life back into adoption rates. But it can be a lot to commit to a proper studio setup to shoot dogs every month, let alone every year. However, even with minimal effort, skill, and time, the difference you can make at any time of year in a foster dog’s life as a photographer is incredible. You just wouldn’t believe it. So I’ll prove it.

Blogging has been an excellent way to boost your SEO and maintain the attention of your clients. It shows off your brand, your images and your writing. However have you thought about how blogging can hurt your business if you lack consistency? If you have been stumped with new ideas on what to write about simply ask your clients to write for you.

Yesterday, Instagram announced that they had made some changes in what they will now allow to performed automatically. With this update, Instagram business profiles have gained the ability to have posts scheduled and published without any additional manual work via third-party applications. Non-Business profiles will likely gain this feature in 2019 according to the announcement. This news has been very favorably received so far, but instead shouldn’t we be running for the hills? Hear me out.

After almost eight years of the freelance life, there are some things that I wish I had gotten sooner to make my life easier. Little things that might seem inconsequential at first but have a big impact on my well-being as a photographer. Here are 10 of them.

Sometimes, photography is too easy. After churning out perfect images left and right, I really felt I like I needed a challenge that would put my God-like skills to the test. Of course, that’s complete crap, but occasionally I do see the need to challenge myself and alternative processes are a great way to learn about the craft of photography while having a bit of fun floundering in failure. To that end, I’ve learned my first alternative process: the kallitype.

To celebrate the release of our newest product photography tutorial, the next episode of Critique the Community will be focused on product images. After having spent weeks with Brian Rodgers Jr. and watching him work, Lee and Patrick are ready to see how your images stand up against the highest rated product photographers on Fstoppers. From the submissions, we will choose one lucky person to win a free Fstoppers tutorial. We will be accepting submissions between now and Friday, February 2nd, at midnight and will select a total of 20 images for the video. Make sure you follow the submission guidelines below to be eligible to participate.

This week's episode of Critique the Community brings a lively discussion between Lee Morris and Mike Kelley on what makes a quality fine art photograph. We received hundreds of image submissions from the Fstoppers community and Lee and Mike hold nothing back with their critique. In the midst of everything, we also play a prank on Mike.

Lifestyle photography means different things to different types of photographers. Some might say photojournalism is the truest form of lifestyle photography. A portrait or wedding photographer would describe it as putting their subjects in real life situations and capturing almost candid moments. I shoot commercial and editorial work so more often than not I create scenes using models and props that feel like real life events but weren't. No matter how you look at it though, lifestyle photography is about telling stories.

As I await the arrival of my new Nikon D850, I’ve spent more than my fair share of time over the past couple of months pouring over specs, B&H user comments, Fstoppers reviews, and YouTube unboxings. I’ve read all there is to read about my new camera, as well as its closest competitors, to get the best advice on the ideal use of my hard-earned money. Of course, one person's answer as to why I definitely should buy a certain camera is the same as another person's answer as to why I definitely should not buy the exact same camera. So which camera is right for me? And at the risk of sounding self-absorbed, the emphasis is on the word “me.”

Hey introverts, it's the guy you've never actually met at a party because he was busy playing with someone else's dog in the corner, and I've got some good news for you: introversion is not a disease.

The photography industry suffered a seismic shift with the advent of digital cameras, yet it may be the ubiquitous camera phone that sounds the death knell of the industry as we know it. Everywhere in every hand is instant access to high-quality image-making technology that has forever altered the landscape of photography from what it means to be a photographer to how the viewing public perceives the value of images and image creation. Are professional photographers aboard a sinking ship, or is it simply time for us to learn to swim on our own?

In today’s overly connected world, it’s relatively easy to gain access to nearly anyone, but meaningful access has become much harder than it used to be. People in general are incredibly guarded against the random DM and the unsolicited “let’s shoot” comments on Instagram to the point that it’s almost laughable to think anything would ever come of it. That’s not to say that nothing ever will, but your odds will be much greater if you follow at least some of the rules I’m laying out below.

I recently had the chance to speak to Greg Beadle, one of the official photographers for the World Economic Forum Event in Davos. From the start he made it clear that as an official photographer for the World Economic Forum, it is his job to “promote the annual meeting through photographs that best emulate the positive experiences and results here in Davos.” He said the energy is tangible and throughout the week, world leaders, celebrities, and wealthy elite will come together to discuss and try solve the current issues of the world today. This is what a day as a photographer at Davos is like.

A trade show is an organized event for companies in a specific industry to showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and customers, study activities of rivals, and examine recent market trends and opportunities. What this means for photographers is that if you're in the niche of the trade show this is your chance to be face to face and rub shoulders with the big names in your industry. To fully maximize the network and contacts you can make from these events you need a game plan and some guidelines to follow. These are my personal five tips to maximize your networking at a trade show.

We all have that person or two we've been following on social media since first opening our own accounts. For me, Joshua Snow is one of those people. Snow is a fellow landscape photographer who I've been fortunate to follow since I first started posting to Instagram. Recently I was able to chat with him about how he transitioned from aspiring to professional photographer, and where his motivation and inspiration lies.

What if instead of settling in on yet another evening of editing that overwhelming avalanche of photos, and half heartedly watching Netflix in your pajamas, tonight you excite your palette with a tasty libation while rubbing elbows with a group of like-minded photography enthusiasts. I don’t know about you, but I’m sold.

Are you doing your best in client consultations? I wasn't, and my work was suffering for it. A thorough client consultation is a free, simple tool that can make a huge impact on your portrait photography business, both in terms of shoot quality, and in getting happy clients to come back for more. The best part is, it’s not difficult at all. You just have to do it.

Traveling 5,500 kilometers in six weeks, Filmmaker Florian Nick explored the wilds of British Columbia and Alberta in search of beautiful scenery, capturing 54,000 photos along the way. The result is a gorgeous time-lapse film showcasing the best of the region in stunning detail and sweeping scale. Nick discussed the making of the film with Fstoppers.

"I get invited into strangers' bedrooms to photograph real sex," shouted the headline. A few days ago, I encountered the work of Roxy Hervé, a London and Paris-based artist/photographer who had been interviewed by Vice. The headline wasn't accurate (and has since been changed), but as I found out from speaking to a few other photographers, it did lead me to discover how easily boudoir photography can turn into something else.

Brian Rodgers Jr. has become the most popular and highly rated product photographer on Fstoppers, and today we are releasing his full-length product photography tutorial, “The Hero Shot.”

Have you ever wondered what it takes to assist the most successful photographers in the world?

Los Angeles, CA: A Southern California photographer recently caught the attention of his peers as he heroically attempted to go an entire day without complaining, making it into the early evening before he was derailed by the announcement of another Canon camera without 4K.

I just watched Justin Timberlake's "Say Something" video, and then, I watched it again. No doubt that's professional production work. Knowing the technical challenges of such a video, for me it felt like I was watching a reality show. The almost "unplugged" vibe of the song was so right for that video that the rest of my senses could be focused on how those guys pull that work off (pun intended). This article will be a humble attempt to reveal how they shot the video.