Fstoppers Original Articles

With every social media boom comes a new wave of photographers navigating its landscape. The TikTok world is completely different from the platforms of the past. On Facebook and Instagram, things are easy enough for photographers: post stills, write captions, engage, engage, engage. On TikTok, however, it’s a whole new ballgame, one that photographers aren’t quite yet prepared for.

For the past several years, I have done this one thing at the end of the year, and it has been responsible for my improvement more than anything else.

Are you looking to get some new gear for cheaper prices? Here are some tips that can help you get better and safer deals anywhere.

Want to start the new year with a free tutorial from Fstoppers? All you have to do is help us choose our Photographer of the Year!

2020 was quite the year, starting relatively normal and then spiraling quickly out of control as few have seen before. Plans were shredded, and normal daily life was abruptly changed like a cold bucket of water to the face.

New Year's resolutions have a bad rap — it starts with a well-meaning desire to lose a few pounds in weight, drink less, or quit smoking. Sure enough, a couple of weeks later those "promises to self" lie in tatters and you discard any further well-meaning thoughts. So don't think about making one, instead, go the whole hog and make three!

How many photos do you have in your Lightroom Classic Catalog? Thousands, tens of thousands, or perhaps even more? I have 10 tips to create order in your Lightroom Classic Catalog.

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 2020, 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.

I’ve waffled and flip-flopped on Apple’s computational imaging claims in its new iPhone 12 series, and so, to finally put my curiosity to rest, I decided to pit what’s (to me) the most compelling iPhone, the iPhone 12 Mini, against my previous favorite phone photography standard-bearer, the Google Pixel 3a.

In my look at the new features of ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021, I was excited to see the inclusion of color wheels and tone wheels. I first started using this style of editor in video production; it’s a big part of what gives stylized video like Mad Max its distinctive look. When editing photos, however, it’s a great, intuitive way of working with the luminosity and color ranges in your image.

It’s little more than a year since Sony announced the launch of the Sony a9 II, but despite that, we could see its successor unveiled within a matter of weeks. Rumors suggest that the a9 III is on its way, so what does the Japanese manufacturer have lined up?

From an early age, Bertie Gregory was sailing, surfing, swimming in the ocean. He was always outside, taking in nature. When you spend that amount of time outdoors and in nature, you gain an appreciation for it by osmosis. Even in England, a place not known for wildlife, he was able to appreciate it.

As a year unlike any other slowly rolls into the history books, we near that magic time when we sweep out the old and bring in the new.

Whether you are looking to get into astrophotography or take your skills to the next level, 2021 has lots of great astronomical events happening all over the world. Planning in advance and being in the right place at the right time is the first step to getting amazing shots.

During the last weeks I took a look at the free and open Software “Darktable”. In this round-up I’ll explain why Darktable is a true and legit alternative – but not suitable for everyone.

Sometimes, we photographers can be a solitary bunch at times but maybe it's also what keeps us back. Have you considered collaborating with a creative from another field to expand your vision?

Take dull, lifeless landscapes and transform them into something captivating in only a few minutes, using this super speedy workflow in ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate 2021.

It seems like there is always a video from a major YouTuber about selling his or her gear, and these videos can rack up hundreds of thousands of views. I’m not sure why that is.

If you ended up with oven mitts and no gift receipt instead of the 50mm lens you actually wanted, all hope isn’t lost. Whether you’ve got it easy with an Amazon gift card or are trying to find a way to use store credit to Home Depot, every store has at least something that can come in handy as a photographer.

Nikon had a torrid 2019 and the impact of COVID-19 on manufacturing and sales has simply added to that misery. However, does recent news suggest they are beginning to turn the corner of poor financial results?

When it is all but gray outside, when the leaves have fallen, the temperature is nothing to write home about, and most people would stay inside, it is time to bring out the camera.

Shockwaves spread throughout the camera world this week when it was reported that Nikon would end 70 years of camera production in Japan and move manufacturing to Thailand. How do you feel about this? And how do Japanese people feel about this?

So much of photography is about capturing a moment, a place, a person, a glance, a tiny slice of history that is impossible to recreate. When we've only got one shot, we want to make sure we get it right. In this series, we’re examining 11 things that can lead to a loss of image sharpness, what causes them, how to recognize them, and what to do about them!

Did you know that using artificial intelligence wizardry, Adobe Sensei, Photoshop CC can now colorize your black and white photos in just a few clicks? Well, find out how to do it, and how to do a little tweaking to make some realistic colorized images from your black and white photographs.

Learn how to avoid these common portrait retouching mistakes in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to make your image editing look more natural.

The first thing you think of when it comes down to shooting landscapes is a horizontal orientation. Perhaps that is why it’s called landscape orientation. That sounds obvious, doesn't it? But I believe it’s not always the better choice.

Adobe Lightroom is full of useful features and tools to help edit your images, but sometimes everything can just get in the way. Here's how to clear the clutter in Lightroom Classic to get a better look at your photos.

Photography is more accessible than ever before, with a plethora of cameras and lenses available and affordable. So, I decided to figure out what the best setup I could build with a maximum budget of $500 was.

The holiday season, and the rash of sales that goes with it, always inspires a simple question: “what purchases would make an improvement to my photography business?” But, the more pertinent question, far less often asked, is: “do I really need to make any purchases at all?”

As a reviewer, companies regularly get in touch offering some interesting products. This one piqued my curiosity as the technology was intriguing: a gadget that holds your phone or camera and tracks your face in order to pan while vlogging or live streaming.

Three months ago, I decided to take the leap to turn my long-time hobby into something more and see what happened. There are a few philosophies in monetizing your work, and here, I go over my thoughts, progress, and revenue streams so far.

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, home to the most dangerous object that man has ever created, is more than an abandoned city and a crumbling nuclear reactor. A new book by historian Darmon Richter reveals the closest you can get to an authentic depiction of a huge swathe of land and its history, giving readers a view of Chernobyl that has never been seen before and may never be seen again.

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.

Minimalism is a fascinating genre of photography and one, which can deliver some incredible and powerful photos. This is the genre where “less is more” really shines. Here I share five steps you can take to create incredible minimalist photos.

If you've got the latest Photoshop CC update you've got to check out how hilarious the new neural filters are, with strange, face-bending results.

Backing up is easy, right? You import your photos from a memory card, then everything is safe and sound on your hard drive. Wrong. Norwegian startup — Piql — believes the answer is to back up your files to film.

Tired of endlessly cloning out every little image sensor spot on your catalog of photos? Use this automated process to remove spots from hundreds of photos at once, and go put your feet up.

Learn how to make your own realistic tilt-shift toy town effect in Photoshop CC with this simple edit of an aerial city view.

Take those flat, lackluster photos that were destined for the trash and set them free in a flash with these simple Lightroom tweaks.

Learn how to make stunning double exposure composites like this in Adobe Photoshop CC with only two photos in just a few simple steps.

It’s a mystery as to why Lightroom doesn’t offer a quick and easy way to add borders to images when exporting files. However, there is a simple solution.

Ever had an overexposed photo that was destined for the trash? Well, hold up! You may be able to save that thing and turn it into a masterpiece. So before you hit delete, read on for a detailed look at how to save overexposed photographs in Lightroom.

Sometimes gear grows on you. And sometimes a piece of equipment’s effectiveness is less about specs and more about combinations.

Last week, Lee Morris, Mike Kelley, and I posted our best image taken during our boating trip to the US Virgin Islands. We asked you which image was the best and who shot what. Today, we reveal the results to see who is the "greatest photographer of all time."

An underrated tool in Lightroom's arsenal, the radial filter is a powerful editing feature that can be used to enhance sunsets, mimic reflectors, and draw focus to subjects. Take a look at how using the radial filter could transform your image editing workflow.

As with everything else, there’s a right a tool for every job. For a photographer, the decision between film and digital is sometimes simple, sometimes less so.

Are you walking the right path?

Looking for a way to take your editing to the next level? Range masks not only save a trip into Photoshop, they also simplify an extremely powerful tool that will improve your editing, no matter what genre you shoot.

A 38-year-old woman plunged to her death at a well-known Instagram photo spot in Australia on Saturday. As sad and regrettable as this is, the real question is why do people keep risking life and limb for a photo?

Am I the only one sick of all these master photographers and YouTubers showing flawless, precise photo edits done in one take with no mistakes? Here's a look at my master workflow for creating flawless photos, one lucky shot at a time.