Fstoppers Original Articles

The tilt-shift lens is probably one of the most special lenses available. It allows the photographer to turn, shift, and tilt the lens in many different ways. In this article, I explain when and how to use the tilt function.

The fact that the focal plane of a picture must always be parallel to the sensor plane is so obvious to most photographers that they don't even bother questioning that fact. Here's what happens when you do question it and how modern mirrorless cameras can help you do it.

Passive income, the Holy Grail of personal finances. Who wouldn’t want to make money from all those old photos without having to lift a finger? With that in mind, I’m going to share with you my own experiences as a casual photographer selling my existing back catalog of digital photos online. It’s been an interesting experience to say the least and I even made a little money.

A lot of photographers seem to fall for promises that presets make, and sometimes, they are true. There are packs out there that give decent results. But the problem with presets is that they do the creative work for you instead of helping you be the creative you wish to be. And that is what is holding you back. But what if there's one unique preset that will distinguish your work from everyone else's? You can't buy it, but you can develop it. Here's how.

Have you ever experienced someone attempting to kill your passion for photography?

Reviewing your images only to find that the shots you've taken are slightly out of focus is one of the worst things in photography. But can you save those photos using Adobe Lightroom?

In this article, we’ll highlight a shortcoming of the exposure triangle, one that’s more a relic of film days than a modern requirement, and we’ll see how an exposure “V,” with just two legs, might actually afford us more flexibility and control over our images.

So, you’re starting to think that you really want to grow and try something new with your photography, but don’t have the funds for a new camera? Well, there’s a good chance that you can make significant upgrades to your productivity without breaking the bank.

Want to make money with your photography? Why not take advantage of the myriad photography competitions to win cash, kit, or even more?

We're year into working from home, and staying productive is proving difficult. One service has helped me more than anything else.

Becoming a full-time landscape photographer can be difficult to navigate, especially in the modern era of photography. I've focused heavily on developing a YouTube channel to hopefully turn my passion into more, and in this update, I go over my revenue, progress, and future steps.

The WHO says approximately 450 million people currently suffer from mental health and neurological disorders. That’s over three-and-a-half times the number that have ever had COVID-19. Within the photographic industry, the rates of mental illness are far worse than in society as a whole.

In Walter Benjamin’s 1935 essay, “A Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” he argues that the reproduction of an art object diminishes its "aura," or unique position in time and space. What this means is that if you make something with your hands, you only have a singular of that thing, so that makes it something special. It is "one of a kind."

Adobe recently brought out a new feature called Super Resolution, which can increase the resolution of your images by up to four times. I tested this feature out on some heavily cropped images I'd recently edited. The results were fantastic.

Given the global pandemic of COVID-19 (and the year that shall not be named), I very quickly found out that I am indeed, contrary to previously held opinions, an extrovert (and not an introvert). But given the situation, I wasn’t photographing people. What could I make that would work well with the images I already create? I do quite a bit of fashion and beauty work, so why not products that go with those?

It’s often read and repeated: Micro Four Thirds is dead! Olympus’ camera department has been sold and full frame mirrorless is currently ruling the game. Am I the only one who doesn’t care?

A heritage website has found fame for its web app that can animate old photographs to bring the dead briefly back to life. But how effective and realistic is it?

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about the mirrorless successor to the Canon EOS 1D X Mark III, rumored to be called the Canon EOS R1. Some might even say outlandish or silly rumors.

There are a bunch of different ways to make your photos stand out: great light, gorgeous model, amazing locations, idealized retouching, but one that is often overlooked in favor of these less subtle approaches is color. We photographers tend to schedule a shoot, show up, capture what's there, and pat ourselves on the back for our genius, but what goes into the shoot before we schedule it can be just as important to the end result as what we do with our lights or our camera. Let's look at an example from my work for Lifetime. No lights. No reflectors. Just color.

It's 2021. Why are seasoned male photographers still treating female models like sex objects under the guise of education?

So much of the discourse surrounding the latest cameras is usually about Eye AF: how fast it is, how consistent, is camera X’s better than camera Y’s. There’s a reason for that, and it’s not just because it’s the latest buzzword.

The tilt-shift lens is probably one of the most special lenses available. It allows the photographer to turn, shift, and tilt the lens in many different ways. In this article, I explain when and how to use the shift function.

In an age of digital, of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat; photos are de rigueur when it comes to promoting yourself. News is fast, which means if you want to get noticed, you need to be faster. The tool of choice is obviously the smartphone because it can take and deliver photos instantly. So, why on earth is an instant print desirable?

For most modern photographers, the thought of shooting a vintage prime instead of a new autofocus lens is a non-starter. If this applies to you, do you think you could tell the difference in a blind comparison? I would be willing to bet not.

Photographers, filmmakers, and digital artists are falling over themselves to mint NFTs in a get-rich-quick scheme that will do little beyond transferring wealth from artists to tech billionaires. Why are so many people buying into the idea that something is rare because everyone says it is?

Having a stressful week? Just want to gawk at gear? These videos will push your ASMR buttons and might actually be interesting.

While I agree that a great photographer can create incredible images using basic tools, it is no secret that great tools can help a good photographer achieve greatness. Over the last year or two, new strobes, new lenses, and a plethora of modifiers have helped elevate my studio photography to new levels, but one tool has brought it to a new level more than anything else: painted backdrops. And so, I wanted to share some resources on how to get painted backdrops without putting a second mortgage on your house.

One of the most rewarding yet mysterious elements of landscape photography is seeing the results of a long exposure. A few weeks ago, I had the chance to check out a new set of filters that mount using magnets, and the resulting photo is pretty interesting.

While March might be a bit early for me to already be filling out my holiday wish list for Santa Claus, the recent announcement that Nikon is developing a Z 9 to be released this year already has me in a festive mood.

One of the most difficult things in editing isn't knowing how to color grade, use radial filters, or Photoshop. It's knowing what a photo needs once you sit down to edit it and these five tips should help guide you in tackling any photo you have.

Skylum is pushing out a free update to their LuminarAI program for Mac and Windows with a host of new and sought-after features.

Here, I show you how to take the first steps with the free and open photo-editing software RawTherapee.

When it comes to photography, or any business really, sometimes you need to pivot in order to succeed.

Clean up clutter backdrops in macro photographs by recycling the trash into a beautiful close-up DIY backdrop.

The latest rumors for the Canon EOS R1 have been published on several sites, and in many respects, they're pretty unbelievable. The alleged leap in technology from Canon's current flagship, the Canon 1D X Mark III to the potential EOS R1 is huge, to say the least. However, this seems awfully familiar to what happened before the Canon EOS R5 was released.

One of the latest buzzwords in tech and editing has been AI. While the earliest implementations were a bit of a gimmick, powerful tools and developments from companies like Adobe, NVIDIA, and Luminar have brought AI to the end-user in a meaningful way. Photoshop’s March 2021 update introduces a new AI tool that promises massive resolution improvements for any camera. Does it live up to the hype?

You don't have to look too far right now to see terms like crypto art and NFT being banded around. What is all the fuss about? And what could this "gold rush" mean for photographers?

Retouching portraits is a crucial process, but it is also highly time-consuming, particularly if you are working with a large batch of images. PortraitPro 21 is here, and it brings a wide variety of intelligent features that will streamline your workflow and save you a ton of time.

As the discourse around Black Lives Matter and police reform grows ever coarser, racism is revealing itself through protests in all small corners of the country. And that means communities unfamiliar with the role of photojournalists are encountering firsthand the consequences of exercising free speech to spew hate in public spaces.

Three leading brands, three leading cameras (with two in shops), and three different approaches. Has Sony, Nikon, or Canon got the best strategic approach for grabbing the mirrorless market?

Sometimes, you need just need a glimmer of inspiration — a seed that sprouts into an idea — and you're back creating great images. Here are seven simple tips that might just be the poke in the right direction you need.

I shoot with Nikon Z. I really like the system, and I’m excited to see Nikon making a clear commitment to the high end of the lineup. What I don’t like is the pointlessness of these pre-pre-release announcements.

Portraiture is one of the most revered genres of photography, with many photographers dreaming of capturing great images of people. But, how do you get started?

After a series of articles detailing when and what to buy, today, I’d like to have a look at the other side of that equation.

Creating sharp photographs can be challenging, a vast array of camera settings and subject matter can make it tricky. But there are three ways to successfully enhance the sharpness of images using Lightroom.

A recent ruling by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) on one of the inappropriate images of children found in the archive of Magnum Photos has been called into question by a former police officer with extensive experience in categorizing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

After capturing the majority of my portfolio with the Canon 5D Mark IV over the last four years, it was time for a change. So, why did I choose the Canon R5, and what do I expect it to do for my photography?

In 2019, Canon did something weird: they crowdfunded a camera that no-one wanted. 18 months later, the reviews are largely terrible and you can now buy it for almost one third of its original price. What happened with the Canon IVY REC?

Since the United Kingdom left the European Union, moving goods and equipment across borders has become more complicated for British passport holders. What are the rules, and will you need to spend more than £300 on an ATA Carnet to take your camera gear across the channel?

Some outlandish rumors regarding the forthcoming flagship mirrorless full frame camera from Canon have emerged, but given that the R5 took the industry by surprise, just how ludicrous are these proposed specifications?