Fstoppers Original Articles

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.

For most manufacturers, one of the hangovers from analog cameras is the chunky dial that sits on top. Two of the modes — shutter priority (often S or Tv) and aperture priority (often A or Av) — are becoming increasingly obsolete. Cameras have changed, and so has how we use them, and manufacturers need to keep up.

Sony is said to be releasing six new E mount lenses in the next 12 months. Given the size and quality of the range of Sony glass, what do you want and what do you expect? And what do the likes of Tamron, Zeiss, Sigma, and Rokinon/Samyang have planned?

When it comes to data recovery software, there are plenty of options currently on the market. In my experience it's been super useful to have a recovery software on hand because I have had SD cards fail on me. The issue is that many available options tend not to do a great job at recovering video. Wondershare might have the answer with its latest update.

Devotion is an idea difficult to capture in photographs. In this interview, photojournalist Jilson Tiu from the Philippines shares his experience photographing a religious tradition practiced by a massive number of devoted believers.

Do you have an image that should work, but doesn't? Perhaps some color alterations could transform it into something great.

CES, the consumer electronics show that takes over Vegas in January, has just recently wrapped up. Between all the announcements, a few tech trends emerged that are going to be very significant for photographers and videographers over the next year. Want to know what they are?

To take The Buggles out of context — digital killed the film star. But just as podcasts are one of the biggest growth areas in media, so is film on the up. Forget buying digital. Your next camera should be film, and here's why.

Today, we're going to discuss how dodging and burning can improve your photos and show you how easy it is in Capture One 20.

If I told you that Facebook lies, you'd all probably shrug your shoulders and reply with an elongated, groaning "duh." Other than the moral issues, their lies genuinely hurt individuals and businesses. As photographers, it's important for us to take note of how Facebook is impacting us.

From tripods to flashes, and everything in between.

Technical perfection, originality, environmentalism, story, aesthetics, and realism are all concepts or principles we as landscape photographers can value. What we value will define how we do our landscape photography and if those photos will ever be any good.

Nikki Smith first picked up a camera when she was five years old. The next summer, one of her images won her a blue ribbon at the Utah State Fair. Fast forward to today, and you’ll find her photographs throughout countless outdoor or climbing magazines, guidebooks, advertisements, and company catalogs.

Setting goals is a great idea with anything you want to improve at. However, setting the wrong sort of goals can impact your chances of attaining them. Here is a guide to setting goals that will definitely improve your work.

Is Canon still the top dog, and has anybody bought new mirrorless glass?

Did anybody purchase an old school DSLR this year? Could the iPhone 11 have affected camera sales?

If you've found yourself wondering how you can go about using hashtags on Instagram for tagging your work, here's how I go about it. Spoiler alert: I don't overthink it, and I keep it as simple as possible.

Social media has an infinite, universal audience. But as you define your niche, your potential audience becomes smaller and smaller. Not everyone is interested in macro photography of sand, so how do you maximize your audience? By understanding what your potential value is to your followers.

Being a photographer comes with perils that only fellow photographers can relate to. Here are 7 things that only photographers care about on set.

It is theorized that 10,000 hours of deliberate practice will turn one into a master of their trade. When starting out as a photographer (or any other skill), you were told practice makes perfect. But is this true for everyone ?

It’s crazy how ideas develop over time and how far we can track our today’s understanding of the world. Find out, what an influential Italian monk from the 13th century already knew about creating good pictures.

The use of filters is very popular among landscape photographers. There are a lot of beautiful filters available that can help capture the landscape in the way you want to. But how useful are these filters in reality? Let’s have a look.

While DSLRs seem to be losing ground to mirrorless cameras as the years go on, they are still the go-to tools of many photographers because they are often the best for the job. The recent spate of announcements from Nikon and Canon make it clear: It’s probably the best time ever to buy a DSLR.

The process of creating technically solid images can seem a bit daunting. But there aren’t actually all that many variables a photographer has to contend with, nor that many things those variables directly influence. But, as with everything, the devil is in the details.

To paraphrase the great Mark Twain, reports of the death of the DSLR have been greatly exaggerated. With Nikon announcing the release of the new D780, in the midst of the mirrorless wave, some people might think this move crazy, but from a business standpoint, it might just be genius.

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!

Black and white photography has a timeless quality, but shooting memorable colorless images is more difficult that it first seems. This little trick can help.

The New Year is a good opportunity to pursue new goals or finally get around to doing those things that have been on your long-list. However have you thought about not picking up a camera?

Consistency is undoubtedly important for many reasons. For those that want to develop a style that makes their work identifiable, defining what consistency means to them is a crucial step. For some, consistency may not matter at all.

Fstoppers recently teamed up with GuruShots, "The World’s Greatest Photo Game,” to host a challenge celebrating the release of our new tutorial, Mastering Macro Photography. Hundreds of macro photos were submitted and the top three winners were selected. Check them out below along with 100 other top rated images.

Whether you are looking to get into astrophotography or take your skills to the next level, 2020 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.

Rumors are circulating that Canon is going to launch a version of the EOS RP with one killer feature when it comes to producing content for Instagram: a vertical sensor with a 5:4 ratio.

Bugsy Sailor had an ambitious plan for 2019. He had a seven-year personal tradition of shooting the first sunrise every year on New Year's Day, but this year, he had a grand scheme to photograph every single sunrise of the year 2019.

I've got just the perfect inspiration to get you started this year: a beautifully made film about travels in South Korea. It is very possible that it will give you a strong inclination to document your next trip, too.

It’s no secret that the photography industry is struggling right now. People are taking more photos than ever, but not on actual cameras. That’s where the photography community can step in and change things by adopting this new year’s resolution: introduce a loved one to photography this year.

There is something truly sublime about a fresh coat of snow. There are few things in nature that are as visually organic as snow-covered trees.

There isn’t exactly a wealth of affordable options when it comes to 24mm prime lenses for Sony full-frame cameras, so Tamron’s new lens is a welcome addition to the line-up, though it does have its idiosyncrasies.

Advances in cameras and more readily available internet bandwidth have made it possible for almost anyone to set up live streams of events just about anywhere nowadays, bringing us new and interesting windows on the world. Here are 10 of the most interesting live cameras you can watch right now.

Even though we repeat it quite often, photography doesn’t have a steep learning curve. Actually, the curve looks different for every photographer. Still, it can teach us something.

There are many things in life you have a choice over, but your parents are not one of them! You are born and — to a greater or lesser extent — bred, shaping the person you are today. So have you looked at their photographs?

At the start of the year 2019, I told myself to make significant changes for me to achieve more this year and it has resulted to what I can definitely call the best year for my photography. Let me share with you 5 of them that I think can bring you more progress for 2020.

What do you think of when you hear the term "composite"? Lots of hours with the Pen tool cutting out elements or fiddling around with the Refine Edge tool?

A common piece of advice for photography beginners is to use your phone to take images, as it's a powerful camera in the right hands. I used to give this advice too, but after a lot of thought, I realized I was wrong.

Following up from last’s week’s article about Capture One, today, we’ll take a look at its main rival in the raw processing field, Lightroom. To keep things on a relatively level playing field, I’ll be discussing what is now called “Lightroom Classic,” the desktop version of Lightroom.

Whenever an aspiring photographer asks me for the secret to beginning their career, I always respond with the same answer: Step one is to remember that photography is a marathon and not a sprint.

It’s time to drop these bad habits and clean up your photography act in 2020. Head into the next decade like a warrior.

Every year, we all take steps to grow as photographers, but maybe it's time we start growing as a community. Here are some things we can all stop doing in the new year to grow positively together.

In 2019, I switched mounts, tried out some new gear, and built a new editing setup. Looking back at the year, there are some pieces of equipment I’d buy again in a heartbeat, while others weren’t even worth the cost of return shipping.

A lot of people think TikTok is juvenile, or have not even heard of it. Yet, after 1 billion downloads and upwards of 500 million monthly users, the app is on the map.