Fstoppers Original Articles

While we hunker down and practice social distancing, it’s important to remember that there are critical reasons to take the spread of this virus seriously. Call it what you will, Influenza, The Spanish Flu, or H1N1, the 1918 Pandemic killed upwards of 100 million people. Can images from this 100-year-old tragedy help contain the spread of COVID-19 today?

It’s amazing how a few simple insights can open up whole new vistas of possibility in your work. Here’s how a combination of camera work and composite editing were used to create an image of a cozy mountain-scape.

You don’t need a big studio, and you don’t need to travel to an exotic location to create incredible photos. All you need is a space to work in, even if it’s a small one.

Like much of the world, Lee and I have found ourselves in mandatory lockdown in our home. During this uncertain time, we thought it would be interesting to record our thoughts, experience, and predictions in a daily diary that we can reflect on years from now. We welcome you to our Coronavirus Journal.

Take simple pet portraits at home while you’re self-isolating. All you need is a pet, a window, and some pet treats to grab their attention, then set your camera to aperture priority mode and work on your composition.

Most of the world is in some form of lockdown, but it doesn’t mean that we have no way of making a difference.

If you ever entered the dark depths of Deviant Art a few years back, you would have most likely stumbled upon the name Conzpiracy at some point in your journey. Like a modern-day urban legend, his complex manipulations of the macabre made waves through the DA community.

It looks like the worldwide pandemic has finally hit the biggest sports and photography event of the year, as the international Olympic Committee is looking at rescheduling the 2020 Summer Olympics. With this news, the big camera and lens companies may be looking at their newly announced, but as yet unreleased models, and could be wondering if waiting out the economic ramifications of the COVID-19 virus is the most viable idea.

Naturally, the photography industry has greatly suffered during the pandemic, and many of us have found ourselves at home, dealing with job cancellations and empty client books. But, just because you have suddenly acquired valuable time on your hands that you normally would have spent on your business or creative endeavors, it does not mean you need to push yourself into extreme productivity.

While a $5 camera app is hardly the largest expense to many photographers, the most recent generation of phones has made it clear that it’s wasted money.

Beginning in 2013, I began to spend a lot of time photographing on a five-block street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan called Greene Street.

A long time ago, I got to visit a friend down in the south of England. We drank (quite a lot of beer), we ate (lots of chocolate brownies), and we set up to shoot a moody portrait.

The first gig adventure photographer Curtis Jones ever had was an unsupported kite traverse of the Greenland Polar Ice Cap. Before that, he was a pharmacist on remote Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The surprising jump from pharmacist to adventure photographer actually makes sense when you hear Jones’ story and could give hope to photographers out there who want to make the leap, but aren’t sure where to start.

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy sharing your photography on Instagram, but hate the process of creating posts. Various scheduling services have emerged, but Facebook’s own Creator Studio is probably one of the best when it comes to photography.

Photojournalism is a contact sport. Or at least it used to be, before the coronavirus rolled into town. Despite the health risks with taking photographs of people in close quarters or crowds, photographers at news organizations around the country are still, more or less, on the job.

How serious are you about making this crazy photography game full time? It is an amazing feeling to get to create every day, but are you forgetting to do the other eighty percent of what is needed to survive?

"Splash on the glass" or so goes the time-worn mantra. Has the market flipped, and is that the right advice anymore?

I get it. Ansel Adams inspires you. Perhaps Bresson, and maybe Gursky too. But there's another world of creative geniuses outside the realms of photography where you can draw creative ideas and energy from. Here are two people that influence me.

As the world essentially stops moving due to the widespread Coronavirus, many photographers and creatives are left with canceled jobs and nothing on the horizon. While we wait for businesses to open back up, we need to find ways to survive these stressful times. Here are a few helpful tips to get you through this event.

Wedding photographers are being hit hard during COVID-19/coronavirus shutdowns. With events anywhere from 100, to 50, to 10 people being shut down, dependent on the city, couples and photographers alike are scrambling to pick up the pieces. With the coronavirus switching things up for the peak of wedding season in many markets, it has left wedding photographers wondering how to fill the gap. Until it’s safe to resume with events, there are other ways to fill it.

COVID-19 is causing lots of uncertainty, especially for wedding photographers. Wedding photography often puts you in a room with 100, 200, even 300 people who have often been traveling. It’s no surprise that this pandemic has had a major effect on the weddings industry. Many photographers are facing postponements, cancellations, and halted bookings. In a time where no one is certain on the next steps, let’s talk about keeping your wedding photography business moving.

Sometimes, there are camera misfires or shots that just barely missed focus. Other times, there are other incidents where an image falls short of technical perfection but still finds a way to my list of favorites.

I’m sure we’ve all read enough about how the world has been changing in recent months. But unless you’re in Antarctica, you’re probably wanting to get away from the crowded areas for a while.

One of the best climbing photographs that I’ve ever taken came out of my recent trip to Switzerland. Here’s how I edited it using Lightroom, deploying a few subtle techniques using adjustment brushes to make the most of the colors and dramatic conditions.

Every once in a while, I receive a request from a beginner photographer who want to become my assistant. I usually decline their application, and in the following article, I'm going to explain why. This information is also useful for those who'd like to become apprentices of established professional photographers.

Your eye is on a new piece of kit, but your partner, accountant, or guilt won't let you make another acquisition before you sell off some deadwood. Well, here's a (very) quick way to help with that decision.

In the wake of what the World Health Organization has declared a pandemic, meetings of all sizes are being canceled left and right. Unfortunately for many of us photographers, these cancellations are delivering a big hit to our businesses.

Considering that a fairly large portion of you may find yourself, like me, staying home due to current events, I thought it might be a nice moment to discuss one of the best ways you could be spending your time.

We’ve heard the news, and we’re all a bit paranoid. It’s understandable. But, the economy is suffering, and so are our jobs and projects. Our clients aren’t calling, because the industry has come to a standstill. It’s said that we should (hopefully) have a vaccine by the end of next year, so for the immediate future, we will need to adapt.

Spend enough time as a photographer, and you are likely to encounter situations that range from strange, to cringeworthy, to downright scary. In this article, Fstoppers writers share their personal horror stories. Be sure to tell us yours as well!

Capturing a great street photograph during the day is hard enough, let alone at night.

There’s a constant stream of new technology on the horizon, new features and capabilities that are undoubtedly valuable to someone. But how do we know if that someone is us? How do we know what’s worth investing in and what’s worth passing up? Here are three questions to help us figure that out.

Back in October, we got a taste of Nikon’s plans for 2020 and 2021. The lens line-up for its Z-mount cameras has been slightly lackluster to date, but things might be about to change — coronavirus permitting.

These are tough times, and they're likely to get tougher. The virus has been spreading quickly, affecting countries around the world and causing the cancellation of many events. This article isn’t intended to be doom and gloom or alarmist for the sake of it, but rather to help.

One of the attributes of great software is that it has multiple ways to accomplish a single task. Lightroom Classic is one of those in that it has various ways to import files.

Benjamin Franklin once said: "for every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned."

Your photographs will always be a copy. Unfortunately, a cheap one, too. There are two main reasons why you're quite limited in creating art.

You can’t polish a turd, but you can do your darndest to make sure all your ducks are in a row, photographically speaking. To prove that you can make anything look good, I'm shooting an old potato. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take a lot to make your images sing, so here’s my top four tips to make any subject look good.

If your subject is far away, you can use a longer focal length to bring it closer. When the subject is very large, a shorter focal length can capture it al at once. But did you know the focal length can also be used in another way?

I've been getting more and more into beauty photography lately, and I'm a big proponent of using one light whenever possible.

Over years of teaching, I’ve gotten a chance to review photographs by all types of photographers. While there are lots of mistakes that can be made, there are a few consistent ones that stand out the most to me.

Until last year, f/2.8 standard zooms for Sony mirrorless cameras were limited to Sony’s hefty GM, an impressive lens with a price tag to match. Suddenly, there’s a trio from which to choose, and the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art is a welcome addition to the fray.

I will use any camera, as long as it's beautiful.

The 2019 novel Corona virus has been hitting industries hard, and it is not sparing creative industries.

Concerts and events can either be exciting and fun or quite challenging for us photographers due to the low-lit environment and having to share the space with other photographers, all while being crammed into a tight space. Luckily, a little bit of planning and preparation can go a long way to avoid any disasters while shooting.

Mirrorless… the one design to rule them all. The master of the full frame is undoubtedly Sony, however has it inadvertently introduced a short-lived shelf life with some in-built obsolescence?

Continuous LED lights have made a ton of progress in the last few years, and they have become more powerful and versatile than ever, making them a viable alternative to strobes in a lot of situations. In this review, we will take a look at the Broncolor LED F160, a compact, high quality option.

Our friends over at GuruShots, "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” hosted a challenge recently where participants were asked to submit their best nightfall Image. There were thousands of entries and 37.6 million votes throughout the contest. Check out the three winners of the challenge as well as the 100 top rated images below.

Traveling for work is like viewing an impressionist painting : From a distance it looks beautiful, but up close it can look like a complete mess.

Photographer Aaron Anderson has done it again, and this time, it’s with Paralympic gold medalist Noah Elliot. The collaboration was an incredible process, though Anderson admits that it might also possibly be one of the hardest productions they’ve worked on.