Fstoppers Original Articles

Many people will avoid picking up a camera because they think they don’t have an eye for photography. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take talent to capture a solid portrait. It takes skill and the motivation necessary to master those skills. Portrait photography can be dealt with as an equation; with just a set of rules and guidelines, it’s possible to take jaw dropping, natural light portraits tomorrow. Here are seven steps to master portraits using natural light only.

I absolutely love seeing the photos I have taken hanging up in my client's house. However, I dread the time it takes to get together and try to sell large prints or canvases as I know I could be using the time for other things. Finally, I've found a solution that I am super excited about that will make the experience for both my clients and I enjoyable, quick and easy. The end result is a win-win for both of us. Swift Galleries is about to change everything!

When I first attempted to retouch the photographs I took in 2006, I had no idea what I needed to do and how. Today there are thousands of video tutorials on the web on how to retouch, but nobody explains what it is that needs to be retouched to make a female face look more youthful, healthy and beautiful. It took me some time to figure out what the common problems that I needed to remove from my subjects' faces and bodies were, and what I had to alter to make them look more attractive.

As a wedding photographer I understand the difficulties of running a business, shooting weddings on weekends and editing photos during the week. It can really eat up a lot of time in the schedule and if you let it, it can take priority over your family life. That's why as creatives we have to set limits on ourselves and make sure we always put family first. One photographer that is the perfect example of how to put family first is Vancouver wedding photographer, Matt Kennedy.

What's up everyone! My name is Pye and I am one of the educators for FStoppers Bahamas! This is my first article here on FStoppers, and I am really proud to be a part of such a great community of photographers. We all know dodging/burning is a fantastic tool when it comes to retouching. But maybe a less common usage, it is also a fantastic tool to enhance muscle definition. Since most of the time we think of Photoshop when we think of dodging/burning and retouch, we are going to stick within Lightroom just to illustrate how powerful and efficient the Adjustment Brush tool can really be.

The use of Photoshop by companies is changing and it’s indicative of a much deeper trend. Earlier his year, American Eagle stopped retouching the models in their 'Aerie' lingerie shoots. They claim that the 9% sales increase last quarter is directly related to this position. This is an unprecedented commercial statement, and has wide implications for photographers, videographers and post production specialists everywhere.

Although we’re often reminded of the importance of constantly shooting and developing our skills as photographers, is there a point where too often shooting actually becomes detrimental? Through observation and personal experience I’ve come to the conclusion that there is indeed a case to be made for shooting less if you’re hoping to properly develop your photography business.

I’ll never forget the email; I was on a plane somewhere over the Florida coast, on my way to the Bahamas for the Fstoppers Workshops 2014. Just before I left the States, I had signed on with the artist consulting firm Wonderful Machine. The first step in preparation for a press release was to tear my website apart. The critique was tough and they slashed it hard… here I am in one of the most beautiful places in the world, feeling a truck load of anxiety. For years, I had thought I had a clean and straight to the point website, but it turns out I needed to strip it down even more.

Contouring has become a popular technique that women use to give shape and enhance facial structure by using makeup. Since most men aren’t willing to use makeup during portrait shoots, I’ve devised a way for photographers to achieve the same results simply by using lighting techniques.

I’m a big proponent of outsourcing editing in my wedding photography business. There’s probably nothing more painful to me than the thought of trudging through 800-1000 images from each wedding I photograph. However, when it comes to my favorite few images from each job, the ones that I’ll share on social media or use to update my website, I take a dive into Lightroom and Photoshop and enjoy every second of it.

We've seen them at every company event...the dreaded photo booth! Well there are photo booths...and then there are HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT? Photo booths! This year, to close out PhotoPlus Expo, Resource Magazine with Scheimpflüg & Bathhouse Studio held their 6th annual Flügoween party and the Fstoppers team were there in force to see and play with one of the most epic Bullet-time Photo setups since The Matrix!

Why is it so hard to hire someone to fill a creative position? At this point I'm afraid that art school might be making most graduates unemployable egomaniacs. I know this because I used to be one.

As photographers, we are all subject to the “I saw this photo on Pinterest” or “I love this photo of my friend” requests. Below are three tips on how to handle these requests without killing your creativity and keeping your client happy.

I spent this last year doing a photographic cleanse, It’s kind of like spring cleaning. You focus on what you need most in your photography, in terms of lighting, editing and education, and you throw everything else out. It was not only extremely important for my growth both professionally and personally, but also for my sanity.

Taking portraits at wide apertures and consistently nailing focus is is not an easy task. In fact, it’s a skill that must be practiced in order to master it. However, an aspect not often discussed in regards to capturing sharp images has nothing to do with the lens used or the f-stop. Here is the ultimate guide to capturing tack sharp images at wide apertures.

I think we can all agree that catch lights in the eyes of our subjects can enhance a photo tremendously. Each modifier we pick renders a different reflection in the eyes of our subject and can give the image a completely different feel. I recently discovered a way to build virtually any shape modifier that can be used in a mobile photo booth or permanent installment in your studio. And it's amazing!

Excuse me a moment while I try and reassemble my brain, it’s kind of just been blown by the video reel I’m about to talk about. While I collect my senses, feel free to join me as I showcase this piece of artistic genius and the talent of the young lady who put it together. This might just be the most insane, joyous 50 second video you’ve ever seen.

Watching this magical time-lapse video - of the Annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta shot by Knate Myers - I couldn't wipe the silly smile off my face. The stunning colors and compositions captivate. If you ask me, Knate completely succeeded in providing the best seats in the house for anyone who didn’t get to attend this magnificent event. I am certainly adding it to my bucket-list of things to do and see.

At the most basic level, photographers seem to be in two camps when it comes to image file types. There are those who care about the look of their images and shoot with big RAW files and those who don’t and use the smaller JPEG files.

RAW files offer a tremendous level of control over noise, tonality and color; a hearty file that can cope with the demands of our creativity.

Whether we're a photographer, graphic designer, painter, musician or dancer... throughout our career, we’ll slam right into a rock solid wall and it some cases it can be so traumatizing that some of us may never recover. It’s not really a question of if; it’s a question of when and if you’re a new artist then brace yourself, there will come a time when things just don’t click. I’ll be honest; I hit that wall with writing for Fstoppers this past month. Writing 1,000 words once a week is no easy feat, I figure it's only appropriate to write about this very topic as I sit here in recovery from a creative collapse.

When we hear about eye whitening our thoughts immediately turn to disturbing cases of retouching gone bad where subjects look more like dolls than humans. While YouTube is littered with videos on the subject, a good chunk of them take a brute force approach to the problem. They either crank up the luminosity or reduce the saturation; both of which will produce unnatural and sometimes frightening results.

We have all been there at one point or another. The thought of picking up a camera and having to take more pictures seems less than appealing. Shooting the same thing over and over, dealing with frustrating clients, or simply not getting the results you had hoped for. All these things can take a toll on your mental state and will eventually translate into feelings of disdain towards your passion. It might feel like you need a miracle to find your passion again, but here are four things which have worked for me, and maybe they can work for you as well!

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!

In the years I've been in this industry, one of the more pervasive problems I have seen talented people deal with is personal fear: Fear of failure, fear of uncertainty, even fear of success. I think a misconception is that successful people do not experience these fears. They certainly do, but they have learned to overcome them, harness them, and succeed in spite of them.

As a parent and photographer, there is nothing I would love to do more than collaborate on a photo series with my son. Growing closer through collaboration - and a mutual learning process from both ends of the lens - appeals to me the most about this idea. And naturally, the memories and images produced in the process. But until he is willing to cooperate with me, I will have to lurk from behind the sofa, “paparazzi mom”.

If you're anything like me then you feel pretty strongly that your face belongs behind a camera, not in front of it. I absolutely hate getting my picture taken, and I'm never more displeased than when I get my photo IDs made. From garish drug store / post office lighting to a poorly executed smile there's always a reason to dread whipping out my driver's license or ID. While I can't really help you with your DMV escapades, passports are unique in that you can actually provide your own image for the document — something I recently took advantage of and you can too. So here it is, The Photographer's Guide to Taking a Passport Photo You Won't Want to Destroy with Fire. All in 10 minutes or less.

Chances are you’ve all seen this iconic photo of Che Guevara at some point. But do you know who took it? Magnum, still arguably the most esteemed photographic collective in the world, announced the sad news last week that one of it’s longest serving members, Rene Burri, passed away aged 81. This post celebrates the life and work of Burri, and sheds a little light on what made him such a special photographer.

Although there have been countless articles written on the subject of Frequency Separation - including several here on Fstoppers - the current state of retouching has me somewhat concerned about its use. Its widespread adoption, use and overuse has brought us to the point where frequency separation is fast becoming the number one culprit for poorly retouched and cringe worthy work. While I’m not convinced that we need to ban it outright, I do feel that the way we approach it needs to fundamentally change.

We’re sitting on the precipice of game-changing year for photographers. 2015 is going to be the year of medium-format. Ricoh (formally Pentax) dropped a bomb this year with a sub-$9,000 medium format camera. There are even rumors about Sony and Mamiya teaming up for a medium format rangefinder of some kind. Yes folks, the competition is heating up, and this version of “king of the hill” is already getting nasty.

Sean Goebel might only do photography in his spare time while working on his PhD in Astronomy, but that hasn't stopped him from licensing work to the likes of Canon, the Discovery Channel, and others. A quick watch of his timelapse works, including Epochs and Mauna Kea Heavens and it is easy to see why. His latest timelapse project is included here, along with a brief look into its creation.

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.

This week I wanted to share a few of the tools we commercial photographers use to create our tabletop images. Particularly the items used in photographing beverages. There's a lot of trial and error when it comes to this sort of photography, often times we find ourselves using things in ways far from their originally intended purpose. Having said that, there's a lot of things that have become kind-of standard practice in food/beverage photography, some of those items I'll share with you today.

With hopes of saving at-risk environments and capturing them before they are gone forever, a team of 15 timelapse artists have decided to join forces and create a feature film. Eric Hines, Michael Shainblum, Drew Geraci, and Joe Capra are just a few of the names on the "CodeX" roster. They are crowdfunding to try and make this project a reality, and I spoke with team member Ben Canales on why this project matters.

People often think that modeling is just about looks. This misconception turns a beautiful person into just a body with no skills. Modeling is not about having the perfect "looks." The key to successfully modeling is the mindset. With just one thought, a photographer can take his or her models to the next level.

Tonight at 8pm Eastern, Stephanie Cotta will be hosting a live Spreecast answering all of your Newborn Photography questions. If you are currently photographing newborns, or would like to, and would like a sneek peek into the in-depth Ultimate Newborn Photography Tutorial currently sold in the Fstoppers store then this is your chance to tune in and ask newborn related questions on lighing, posing, composition, marketing, pricing, and everything in between. We will be giving away free tutorials during the event as well so tune in for details.

Food and lifestyle photographer Annabelle Breakey has an envy-inducing portfolio that features sun-drenched tables crowded with elegantly displayed dishes and bright arrangements of produce against pristine backdrops. I had the chance to speak with Breakey about her work, managing creativity and business and staying creatively inspired.

I live just a few miles outside of New York City, so when 911 happened, my world was rocked harder than most in the world. After getting my daily dose of hate mail this week about taking pictures at the 911 Memorial at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, I thought I'd write about it.

Have you ever been shooting away with your camera, and you absolutely love the colors and saturation you see on the back of the screen...only to get your images home and have them look ENTIRELY different once you've loaded them into Lightroom?

Well for those of you who want your images to look like they did on your camera, i'm going to show you how to get that starting point back!

One of the big things lacking in my workflow was the ability to schedule Instagram posts. I have a personal Instagram as well as two work focused Instagram accounts and remembering to post on each one is time consuming and frustrating. About once a month I'll check to see if Hootsuite has added the ability to schedule instagram posts, but unfortunately it still does not. This month, my Google search led me to Latergramme and I was instantly smitten.

If you're familiar with Fstoppers, you've certainly have heard of Pratik Naik before. As a contributor to Fstoppers for years now, Pratik has been able to share his own retouching secrets that help make him one of the biggest names in the retouching community. Following his recent trip to Seattle to host a Creative Live series - one of the most watched to date, I was able to meet up with him and talk about his upcoming projects and his path as a world class retoucher.

No one is more critical of my work than me and I know a lot of photographers share the same sentiment. I took some time this week to reflect on this ongoing frustration and negativity, and really think about what’s behind it and why we do this to ourselves.

Sandro Miller was the first photographer to document the ENTIRE Cuban Olympic team since the mid twentieth century. Sandro was once kissed on the lips by Muhammad Ali. Sandro once made Michael Jordan cry. If you call yourself a photographer, you will not want to miss this rare video interview with Sandro from PRO EDU.

Melissa Rodwell has been there, done it and got the t-shirt. A thirty year veteran of the world of fashion photography, she has paid her dues and then some. She has seen the trends come and go, and now has the knowledge and experience to help those just starting out. Anyone interested in fashion photography, or simply how to survive as a professional photographer will benefit from this frank and exclusive interview.

If you are a photographer, there is a strong possibility that you do a fair amount of work from home. With such an abundance of media and devices fighting for your attention, it can be a struggle to stay productive. Use the following tips to help you stay efficient so you can get out of your house and have a life!

Last week we released our portable light modifier The Fstoppers Flashdisc to the general public through Amazon. While the success of our first ever physical product has been huge, a lot of people have been asking for example images shot with this useful small softbox. Today I am going to break down a simple beauty shot you might see in a magazine that was shot entirely with 4 speedlights and 3 Flashdisc light modifiers.

Eric Crosland is the director of Sherpa Cinema, a collective of artists who produce some pretty amazing stuff. Crosland recently went to some rather remote parts of Iceland with Dave Mossop and John Trapman working on capturing some landscapes, something for which Iceland is a mecca. While there, the Icelandic eruption occurred and Crosland was ready with a Phase One.

Have you ever seen a photo of a unique place, but could never find exactly where it was located? For years, Justin Majeczky was aware of the existence of the Fly Geyser, but only after research and some smooth talking was he able to locate and document this unique phenomena.

How do you make a photograph that sells for more than $100,000? Gregory Crewdson may not have the answer, and I suspect he probably doesn’t care, but that is what his prints will routinely fetch, if not more. What is it that allows him to create such staggeringly powerful works of art, and what are the struggles he endures through the creative process?

In conjunction with The Bubbler and the Diane Endres Ballweg Gallery of the Madison Public Library, Andy Adams of FlakPhoto has produced a new photo exhibition called the Midwest Print Show. The show features 41 photographers living and working in the Midwestern United States, and includes a variety of subject matter from across the region.

The show officially opened on September 26, 2014 and will continue through October 30, 2014. Given that the Society for Photographic Education Midwest Conference is set to happen in Madison this month, Adams decided to take advantage of the happenings and produce a show that celebrates photographic prints from Midwestern photographers.

Next up to bat on the Fstoppers TogTools podcast series is our very own Sarah Williams, half of the wedding photographer team at Val & Sarah. Jess and Stephen interview Sarah about the importance of identifying a niche and how she goes about booking the type of people she would want to hang out with, the ins and outs of partnerships and connecting emotionally to her work.