Fstoppers Original Articles

In mid-2018, photographer Brett Stanley got a call from Jason Foster, who is the manager for Natalie Mering’s band, Weyes Blood (signed to Sub Pop). Take a moment to go listen to some of their tracks before continuing this story. Or, never mind, stay here! Keep reading!

There aren’t many things photographers unanimously agree on, but the desire to improve post-processing results and reduce the time required to do it is one. With so much of a photographer’s time spent behind a computer, anything that not only expedites but enhances the experience is welcomed with open arms, and using a Wacom pen tablet is one such thing. For Capture One, using a Wacom Tablet can be a real boon, and here’s how.

While you are waiting for me to finish the video edit on our last Puerto Rican Photo Challenge, we have a new competition for you guys to judge. This time I take a back seat and let Lee Morris and Pye Jirsa of SLR Lounge battle head to head in the streets of Old San Juan.

I've been a long-time Canon shooter, back to the film days, then a Canon 10D, 20D, 5D, and 6D. I do mostly landscape work and some nightscapes. They've been great cameras, close to state of the art at their release, and frankly, I've never needed a single repair on any of them.

Many times the question arises on how to run a family and a business without losing your sanity. After speaking with one entrepreneur who is successfully managing the balance, we shared a few tips to keep the pressure down and the success rate high.

With strangers generally eager to offer their opinion on what we do, albeit mostly unwanted, when should we listen to their criticism and when should we ignore it?

With a multitude of components making up a successful photographer, what sort of role does "talent" play, and how important is it?

Flying a drone is a feeling that can be hard to describe. However, the photos and videos people are able to achieve using these tools are absolutely amazing and can have people staring at their screens for quite a while.

Capturing an image is one of many steps in the process of putting together a photographic body of work. While titling your images is not obligatory, if you are thinking of exhibiting them or submitting to competitions, then this can be an important step. Although this can sometimes seem daunting, it need not be. If you’ve struggled with this, then read on.

Photographers nowadays have plenty of tools at our fingertips: Lightroom, Capture One, Photoshop, etc. However, all of these are either expensive, complicated, or have recurring payments (or all three). The automatic photo editor PhotoWorks is here to change that, targeting the photographer who isn't quite tech-savvy with layers, warping, and such, but wants a bit more "oomph" to their photos.

I save everything I shoot. I never realized the issue with this until one day, I looked up, and my 8 TB hard drive only had 3 GB left, at which point I realized: I have a problem.

Haida recently sent me their new M10 Filter holder kit for review. I tried to spice up our review video with an interesting photoshoot and ended up destroying our Nikon D850 in a rogue wave.

This week, we have a new photo challenge that pits two photographers against each other as they battle to see who can create the best image in a limited amount of time. Click the full post to cast your vote, and tomorrow, we will reveal the winner to the two challengers!

The grass is always greener on the other side, or so the proverb says, and there is no denying that the latest offering from another camera manufacturer can be a tempting proposition. Are you a serial crossgrader?

Technology is a locomotive moving full speed ahead. From the creation of the first digital SLR almost two decades ago to the mirrorless revolution, the progression of technology in photography has made the craft more accessible, affordable, and reliable than ever. However, even with all of this progress, I can't help but feel that we've lost a little something along the way.

Canon must feel like they simply can’t win. For the last couple of years, they’ve been too slow to innovate, and now, when they bring out a mind-blowing lens, everyone says that it’s too big, unnecessary, and far, far too expensive.

There are many ways to express the notion of the first step being the hardest, and it often is. So how does a photographer get paid work in a new area, if they don't have past work to show?

It’s been four months since I made the transition from my beloved Canon 6D to the much-revered Sony a7 III. There are many things that I love about this new camera, but there’s one thing that’s proving to be a problem.

An argument for using either a UV filter or lens hood is for protecting the lens and especially the front element. Last winter, I experienced just how important a lens hood is.

As with anything you wish to progress in, investing both time and money ought to be a careful process. So, what do you believe are the wisest investments you can make as a photographer?

As a kid, photographer Ilya Nodia absolutely loved the Russian TV show “Titans Wrestling.” It was a local TV channel that bought records of American wrestling and translated it. He fell in love while watching characters such as Hulk Hogan, Bill Goldberg, Sting, Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Paige and made his parents crazy while he collected merchandise and themed wrestling toys.

As creative professionals, the ability to pivot, both in business and creatively, can be a life-changing experience. I might be at that stage now and I've no clue as to where this will will lead to.

If your images are too large, you worry they will be stolen. If your images are too small, they lose their impact. Here is what I believe to be the best balance for this problem.

With the digital age stacking techniques make it possible to shoot a star trail in the middle of a city. But when I got my hands on a great medium format camera, I also ran into a problem: the star trail had strange patterns in the stacked image. Fortunately I found out why this is, and how to avoid it.

Have you ever wondered what went into photographing a comedian? In this article, I take you behind the scenes of a recent client shoot I did using a fun aesthetic and mood to match my subjects' larger-than-life personality.

What part of the photographic process are you operating at a world class level? This article is about owning what you’re great at and outsourcing the remainder of the process to specialists.

It’s been about eight months since Canon launched their full frame mirrorless system. In that time, they’ve created or announced 10 lenses to be delivered by the end of 2019, as well as a second body. Despite the fast progress on building out the kit, Canon is missing a critical item.

A nice portrait is made up of four elements: composition, lighting, post-processing, and subject. The first three are easy to learn about and improve on your own, but after annoying your friends and family and getting sick of Facebook and Instagram, how do you improve?

Getting started as a professional photographer is a daunting task. Psychologically, it is a huge leap from taking photographs for fun to getting paid for a photograph (or photographs).

For my latest photoshoot I decided to use harsh light to photograph my buddy Bart in two different ways. If you've wanted to learn how to get that vintage movie style look, you'll enjoy this full tutorial.

Technique, skill, creativity, and yes, gear can all affect the quality of your photographs. But there's one thing many photographers overlook when out in the field that will quickly improve your photography without costing you a dime or requiring any practice or specialized skills.

I write a lot of articles about photographers not price cutting you, so I am going to try and approach this from the opposite direction. Here is how photographers are price cutting you.

The venerable East Coast photography exhibition makes it first trip to the West Coast.

Buying new gear can be one of the major expenses for any photographer, so taking any opportunity to save is important. There are a number of ways to save on any gear purchase, without compromising on the quality, warranty, or buying experience.

Explore the national park or national forest for a week or more, maybe get paid? There are tons of artists-in-residence opportunities scattered across the United States. Take a chance, see a new part of the country and create new work inspired by unique landscapes.

When I first started out using speedlights for flash photography, there weren’t many options aside from Canon and Nikon. As a result, I’ve amassed a large collection of Speedlights (and Speedlites), but now that I also shoot mirrorless bodies, are my SB-700s and 600EX-RTs any good?

Even though people love to knock presets, if you look under the hood, you might learn some things about how many different ways you can manipulate your photos in Lightroom.

There are an infinite amount of photography-related items you can spend your hard-earned cash on. Sometimes, it's the small and insignificant purchases that can really save the day.

Hasselblad was one of the first that used super resolution techniques. Today it can be found in many cameras, producing resolutions that are up to four times higher than the pixel count of the sensor. You can also do this with your camera. This is how it works.

Maha's new Powerex MH-C980 8 Cell Charger/Analyzer is out and it's a full-featured, professional charging beast. Check out the nitty gritty on one of the most advanced AA/AAA battery chargers on the market.

When striving for success, the reality of what you want and what you pictured beforehand seemingly don't always align. In fact, they can appear wholly different and strange. This is one such peculiarity.

Are you in need of a powerful, versatile, and compact RGB LED light that won't break the bank? I was and this might now be my favorite hot light for shooting on location.

Viewers are complaining that they couldn’t actually see parts of the latest episode. Is this due to cheap televisions or by design? This article contains spoilers.

Apple Aperture began with a bang in 2005 and promptly became a favorite of many professional photographers. But what began with a bang ends in a whimper, as Apple quietly issued a support document with some bad news for those few photographers who were still using it.

Every so often, among the broad and amorphous photographic community, you will find a rather puzzling paradox: Gear doesn’t matter, and yet if you don’t have expensive gear, you’re not a proper photographer. How ridiculous.

As I stumbled, sleep-drunk, in to my bathroom this morning I had what I would categorize as my first photography shower thought.

Mention off-camera flash and people often think about C-stands, flash heads, large octaboxes, and V-flats. Hardly what you would call portable. So how do go about assembling one?

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.

Chasing clients to ensure I am properly credited for my work takes up more of my time than I care to admit. It’s frustrating to see my images used without due recognition, but none more so than this particular incident in which a relatively well-known musician’s team seemed to prefer removing the image from Instagram entirely, rather than simply adding my handle to the caption.

The rise of smartphones has left many professional photographers wondering if their services have a future. However, it’s now having an impact on the industry in ways that many might not have anticipated.