Fstoppers Original Articles

Lightroom's graduated filter is like magic, offering incredible editing options from the comfort of your own home, but it's not perfect. Take a whisk through these top six ways to improve the graduated filter for better image editing success.

There are moments when it's difficult to go out photographing. Perhaps the weather is too bad, or it becomes dark too soon during wintertime. I have a couple of suggestions to spend these periods with less inspiration in a useful way.

When you upload your image to Facebook or Instagram, are you noticing a loss in image quality? Are you uploading optimized images for social and the web?

When saving layers into separate files using the in-built Photoshop script we always get this annoying string of numbers at the start before the filename. But now I'm going to show you how to make a quick tweak to change that forever.

When we ask people about what lens to get for landscape photography, we often get advised to get a wide-angle lens. But how wide do you need these lenses to be?

It is winter in the northern hemisphere and the cold winds howl. Here are five tips to help you get better winter landscape photos.

One of the unique aspects of the Black Lives Matter movement in the last year has been how it has spread to even the smallest of communities. It’s made covering the protests as a minority photographer a wholly different and vastly more frightening experience.

Transform boring, wide scenes into dramatic and intimate close-ups with a telephoto lens that brings you into the photo, focusing on the fine details.

Is a photo everything it seems and what does it say about why and how it was taken? This image from publishers Lawrence and Houseworth shows a full team on the Sierras, but what is it telling us?

The votes are in, and you've helped to choose our Fstoppers Photographer of the Year! We've also randomly selected one reader who voted to receive a free Fstoppers tutorial of their choice!

I started out today to write a specific camera review but ended up taking a broader view of a brand that I have come to depend on. I haven’t forgotten about the review, but, in today’s article, I thought I would simply share the love.

Use your next five minutes effectively and learn how to create faded, filmic photo edits with nothing more than a few tweaks in Lightroom.

Intentional camera movement is taking a photograph with a longer shutter speed and purposefully moving the camera during exposure. Most photographers swear by using a tripod for this technique, but I'm here to show you that you can do it handheld just as easily.

My love for street photography pre-dates my time as a photographer. But one thread that runs between all my favorite street photographers is a characteristically dark and moody aesthetic. Here are my top 10 to follow.

Many presumed Luminar AI to be the big update for Luminar 4. But Skylum surprised everyone when Luminar AI turned out to be a completely different program. Or perhaps it isn’t that different at all?

In last week's article, I went over what qualities and questions you should be answering when choosing a camera. In part two I'll be going over the most important aspects of choosing a lens and tripod when diving into landscape photography.

Do you feel like you are living in a parallel world where time both seemingly stops but also goes at a rate faster than before? Have the constant restrictions paralyzed you and left you unable to foresee picking up your camera anytime soon?

Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres of photography and most of the time, you need to be well prepared for it. Here are three totally different examples that show the difference between time and effort.

Fujifilm has been quietly dominating the rather niche market of reasonably priced medium format cameras. However, their rumored newest addition is either going to the perfect option in that sector, or it's going to narrowly miss that target.

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Julia Hart’s recent film, I’m Your Woman, make a point to add it to your list. Bryce Fortner’s photography isn’t just eye-candy, it shows what you can do when you use style along with intention.

I’ve lived in many places and every time, as much as I’ve wanted to set up a small studio, most apartments were not conducive to doing so, or I’ve had partners with so much junk that even a free wall was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I’ve finally had the occasion to leave one wall free for that mini portrait setup and I’m glad I did. It’s something every photographer should plan their furniture arrangements around.

Cameras have several different shooting modes. The two most common for landscape photography is aperture priority and manual. Which one is the better choice?

ACDsee's Photo Studio Ultimate 2021 is packed with a significant deal of new features.

There is always someone better than you, and photography is no exception. But that doesn't mean you have to settle for your lot, even as a beginner, and while improving, there are ways you can ensure you are shooting above your ability level.

Artificial intelligence is pervading every corner of our digital lives, and Adobe is powering their editing software with Sensei, their artificially intelligent tool. But so far, it's lacking the ability to deal with the common issue of sensor spots automatically in Lightroom, which would make our lives much easier.

Winter is usually a high point for many landscape photographers but what do you do when the weather just keeps being gray and boring?

If you've ever wanted to try food photography at home, then use these seven tips to improve your chances of getting some great food photos.

The Fuji GFX 100 is an amazing camera. But one simple fix could greatly improve its usefulness in my workflow.

For the last few weeks, every single Fstoppers photography and video tutorial has been on sale. That comes to an end on January 7th.

The good news is 2020 is over. The bad news is that 2020's woes appear to be coming with us into 2021. So, if you want to improve in photography, it's going to take more effort and focus than usual.

What better time than now to pick up a new hobby where you avoid people and find yourself alone in the wilderness?. Here is all you need to get started with landscape photography right now!

Branding is important for any photographer, and with 2020 behind us, I thought it best to update my own personal branding with some new profile photos across all of my socials. This is how I got the shots.

A few weeks ago, Lee Morris pulled an interesting prank on Mike Kelley and I, where he placed valuable Ansel Adams prints next to snapshots taken off our own Facebook pages and asked us to blindly critique all the images. Today, it's time for payback! Can Lee and Mike pick out an Ansel Adams print when they are mixed in a sea of images taken from the Fstoppers Community?

This shouldn't come as a big surprise, as Adobe has been sending out warnings for quite a while now. Yet, some photographers have been clinging to the older technology and will need to make changes immediately.

Whenever you see one, you’ll point at it, kids love to draw them, and some believe that there is a pot of gold hidden at their end. To me, photographing a rainbow is enough of a gift. Here, you’ll get to know how to increase the chance of seeing a rainbow and how to photograph and edit one.

Should you turn image stabilization off when shooting from a tripod? We’re going to put it to the test and find some interesting results.

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.