Fstoppers Original Articles

Having a new camera is exciting — playing around with settings and looking at the first results on your computer. It is very easy to set the exposure, and some basic settings are not difficult to find, but do you really take time to learn how your camera works?

Pets are considered by most as family members. Some prefer cats, others prefer dogs, and some even are drawn to the the flying kind of lovable companions. While most think of only photographing their beloved fur babies as a hobby, have you ever thought about turning it into a marketable portion of your company?

There were lots of preconceived notions I had for being a professional photographer. Some were right, some were wrong, and most were somewhere in-between. But there were aspects that I hadn't even considered.

Before you click the shutter, you likely think about shutter speed and aperture. You likely think about what you want the image to look like. But, do you imagine it displayed? When you shoot, do you take the time to think about what the finished product will be?

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 2019, 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.

Double exposures, when they’re done well, are incredibly impressive. The literature on how to do them is fairly limited, but here, I'll explain how they work and how they're done.

Like many 30-somethings, I came of age during a time when photography was transitioning from film to pixels. Entire years of my life were captured with early consumer and professional-grade digital cameras, and now I’m left feeling like that was a big mistake.

As time goes on, the tools and technology keep getting better and more powerful. Today, learn how you can take a boring seamless paper backdrop and give it life with added texture and easy to follow steps using Photoshop.

Recently, someone in our comments suggested a really cool idea, and we need your help. If you've been featured on an episode of our Critique the Community, help us with a future video by responding to this post.

With Nikon’s recent launch of the Z 50, speculation has continued regarding Canon’s plans for its APS-C sensor cameras. What to do to cater for all of those 7D Mark II shooters awaiting an upgrade is something of a dilemma, and a new rumor has sparked a fresh helping of speculation.

If you are running a luxury photography studio but have not starting using in-person sales (IPS) you may be leaving money on the table. The investment menu is key to having a fluid sales session. But did you know the importance of where you place the collections on the menu?

We live in a day and age where the phrase "Everything is relative" is the final word for many conversations and a basis for conclusions. This kind of mentality can lead to disastrous results.

As often is the case, the aftermath of tragedy has drawn my attention away from the cool gadgets and techniques of the photographic profession and caused my mind to drift back to the why. Allow me a moment to indulge a larger question.

I've always assumed I would continue shooting weddings with a second shooter for as long as I could, but maybe I have been wrong all along. Perhaps, I won't always need to.

Declaring the DSLR dead is premature. Sports and news image agencies are so heavily invested in bodies and glass that the shift was always going to take a while, but the Canon 1D X Mark III might have just put the use-by date on DSLRs back even further.

Do you ever get the feeling that people who make menu settings on cameras and manual instructions to follow are having a laugh at your expense by making things so confusing? Can you explain this Canon menu riddle to me? Because it's baffling me.

Many aspiring photographers get intimidated by landscape photography because of their unfamiliarity to filters. While filters are not 100% essential to learning landscape, understanding this topic before making choices can lead you towards better gear decisions.

A lot of things are said about photography that are not always correct. Many photographers might get the wrong idea about a lot of things. Are you one of those photographers?

DSLR users and friends of the mirrorless camera constantly discuss which system is the best. Is this discussion driven by unreasonable fear?

There’s been a lot of speculation about what camera Canon would add next to its new range of full-frame mirrorless bodies, and we might be a step closer to seeing what will emerge over the next twelve months. According to rumors, one is pretty certain, but the other two are a little more unexpected.

Sorry, Nikon, but why you ever thought that calling hundreds of different camera models COOLPIX would be a good idea will always confuse me. It's not just Nikon, though; camera names and naming conventions are a car crash of branding and lack of foresight. Why are they all so terrible? And which is the worst?

We all talk about the importance of finding your visual style, but do you really know why you need one? It's more than just being unique; a visual style is key to shooting photos with interest. And it's that interest that keeps people coming back.

Film photography is enjoying a bit of a resurgence at the moment, with many people flocking to it for reasons ranging from the abundance of cheap used equipment, to the enjoyment of the process, or the look of the results. And while film can certainly be both a fun and rewarding way to shoot, it is important to be aware of its downsides as well, one of them being the fact that it is not friendly to animals.

Recently I was thinking about the year so far and noticed that my output for the year was down compared to other years. Why was this?

If you were anything like me when you first started in photography, you probably took a metric ton of pictures of just about anything you could point your camera at. But what was the first photo you took that got you truly excited about photography? Did it change your path through photography or even life itself?

Photography is a microcosm for the real world, and in many ways, it mirrors it. Here are my top five rules for life that I've transferred to photography.

With Leica having just released the beautiful but insanely expensive M10 Monochrom, there’s a good question why other camera manufacturers don’t do the same. Would you buy an Sony a7M III, a Fuji X-M3, or even a Canon EOS Rm?

All photographers at every level have a similar problem. How do you know how much to spend on a new camera?

When the X-H1 was first announced, I wrote an article talking about how it was a disappointing release from Fujifilm. My thoughts about that camera haven't really changed; however, since rumors of the X-T4 started to circulate, I've had a think about the H series and where it sits in the line-up.

When I first started out in photography I didn't have any specific process to manage any of my images and files. This is one of the primary reasons I don't have many of my early images anymore. It's a shame because I was quite proud of some of the images I had produced.

If you're not a professional photographer, you're not alone. While I sometimes wish I had it in me to be a professional photographer, in the end, I do not. Alas, I believe I’m better for it.

Optical printing is a dirty and time-consuming process. The chemicals involved in printing are bad for you and bad for the environment. Digital printing hasn’t changed much of this impact for the better. The chemicals used to treat photographic printer paper aren’t great for the environment. The paper itself uses a significant amount of resources to cultivate. Do you ever wonder if there is a better alternative?

I have been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of some great advice over the years. In this article, I go over the five bits that have resonated the most with me and that I think of on every shoot.

With the release of Luminar 4, it has become amazingly easy to replace a boring sky with something more appealing. You only need to pick the sky of your choice, and the artificial intelligence part of the program does an amazing job in masking out the sky and changing it into something else. But should you use it?

Most photographers look back at their very earliest work and cringe; I am no exception. But what could I learn from harshly critiquing my earliest imagery and what value might it hold for beginners? Let's find out.

It's hard to make your images stand out from the crowd. Here is a method which might help you catch the attention of your audience.

Stories that change the way you see American culture are rare. The Delta Hill Riders project is one of those.

I absolutely adore the precise placement of light, and recently, during a model test, I decided to play around with it, utilizing a new tool, ending up with my first portfolio shot of 2020.

The rule of thirds is completely overrated. There, I said it. Nope, I am not going to take it back.

No matter how strongly you feel about photography, it can still start to lose its shine. So, how can you avoid losing that fire that keeps the camera in your hand?

Recently I got my hands on the new Fujifilm GFX 100 medium format camera and thought it would be fun to create a free fashion photography tutorial showing my entire workflow. The goal of this shoot was to create a bunch of different looking styled shoots using natural light in combination with a few strobes.

There are cases when a client insists that you restrain from publishing anything you've worked on with them. Would you charge them more or you have another policy?

Almost all of us have caught GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) at some point. We can often get caught up with buying new lights and modifiers, new lenses, and it can all become rather daunting, so recently as a challenge to myself I shot an entire portfolio building session with a single light, a single modifier, and a single lens.

Happy New Year! If you’re like me, you probably made about 20 New Year's resolutions — most of which seemed like far poorer ideas once the wine wore off. A few I do have to admit would make me a better person, but don't sound like much fun. There's only one am I excited about: Explore more!

As a company, Facebook has quite a prudish mentality when it comes to art and creative works in general. This is why we have campaigns like "Free The Nipple," because Instagram doesn't really seem to appreciate art. What's worse is Instagram is now targeting images they consider "fake," which includes composites and works of a surreal nature.

Macro photography can be a fun and exciting step for a hobbyist or the full time photographer looking to shoot something different. It takes patience (in most cases if you are working with small creatures) and a keen eye for that interesting shot. So what do you need to know in order to start into macro photography?

No matter how much we like to complicate it, photography is a relatively simple pleasure. And rather than always focus on the results, it sometimes pays to simply step back and revel in the process.

Editing is no different than shooting – you will get stuck for inspiration at one point or another. But, how can we get through it without losing our mind?

Growing up on comic books and graphic novels I have always been a fan of anything illustrated. When I started taking photos and creating art, I wanted my images to have a similar feel.

One metric of a successful lens that is difficult to measure but highly valuable is "fun." But which lenses are the most fun and why? Here are five of mine.