Articles written by Patrick Hall

One of the most difficult things about being a full time photographer is learning how to properly market yourself and your business. New York Times Best Seller authors Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck are masters at small business marketing and company branding. Today through October 5th, they are hosting a free to watch workshop called Photography Brand Makeover on creativeLIVE (watch it now here). If you want to learn how to stand out from your competition and increase your overall profits, this is a workshop you don't want to miss.

A few weeks ago you may remember Ikea's attack on product photography. Today news has spread that the Saudi Arabia franchise has photoshopped all females out from catalogs distributed throughout the Islamic nation. Women aren't the only ones being censored, however, as even glasses of wine have been transformed into less offensive "festive cups". What does Ikea have to say about the post processing changes found in their catalogs?

If you've ever had to photograph a large group of people, you probably understand how difficult it can be to capture every single person looking great. Imagine if that group photo was made up of 12 of the worlds richest Billionaires! That's what photographer Michael Prince did when he had to photograph the cover of Forbes Magazine during the 400 Summit on Philanthropy back in June.

Giuliano Bekor is an amazing commercial and advertising photographer based out of Los Angeles. Recently he traveled down to Australia to produce a short editorial film for the clothing company Merchant 1948. The concept involves a set of short films based around the idea of models finding a ton of cash and avoiding the police by flying away in vintage airplanes. As ridiculous as that sounds, Giuliano's execution makes for a really entertaining editorial spread.

Each week creativeLIVE has unbelievable live content that you can stream for free. Starting today through Sept 15th, creativeLIVE will host one of Fstoppers' most featured photographers Matthew Jordan Smith. Matthew is an acclaimed fashion photographer, and he has brought along America's Next Top Model winner Yoanna House to talk about everything that goes on in the fashion industry. For more information about this week's entire event, read the full post.

One question most aspiring photographers ask is "should I get a degree in photography before starting my business?" Maybe a better question is does going to college actually prepare you for a career in photography? A recent article published by Kiplinger suggests that Film and Photography students (as well as graphic designers) are ill prepared in finding paying jobs upon graduation.

One problem photographers face when focusing on objects extremely close to the camera's lens is the depth of field can become quite shallow. Even if you shoot at f22, your lens simply can't keep everything from 1 foot to infinity sharp and in focus. Gavin Hoey has released an incredibly helpful tutorial on how you can use "image stacking" in photoshop to create images that have much more depth of field than normal. If you are a landscape photographer or shoot tricky subjects like interiors or macro still life, stacking images for maximum sharpness can be a lifesaver.

As photographers, we are always sculpting our images with light. But if you've seen any of the light painting posts here on Fstoppers, then you know just how complex the art of light painting can get. Photographer Ben Willmore has been using small constant lights in his images for years, and now he's offering a free online workshop for anyone wanting to learn the craft. On Saturday, August 25th, Ben will be giving away all his tips and tricks for free on creativeLIVE.

Earlier in the year, Fstoppers showed you how Sports Illustrated photographers photograph a superbowl. Just as the 2012 Olympics in London have come to a close, Reuters has released a behind the scenes video on how their photographers take images during the world's most celebrated sporting event. It's pretty interesting to hear from some of the industry's best photographers and editors as they race against the clock to send images to the wire.