Articles written by Jaron Schneider

[Contest Entry] Cory Albrechston Photographs Women Under Ice

by Jaron Schneider

December 9, 2011

As we get closer to the deadline to enter our Behind The Scenes Contest we are seeing more and more entries, many of which are looking truly great. As I was browsing through the submissions, I noticed this one by Cory Albrechston where he demonstrates how he designed and lit a set to create the look of someone trapped under a sheet of ice. With pretty straightforward lighting and a cool idea, Cory was able to make a really unusual and eye-catching image.

[FS Meetup] Fstoppers Meetup TONIGHT in Scottsdale, AZ w/ Blair Bunting

by Jaron Schneider

December 8, 2011

We are going to be in Scottsdale, AZ shooting our next Behind The Scenes video with commercial photographer Blair Bunting, so we thought we might hit up all you Arizona Fstoppers. Come hang with us at the Terroir Wine Pub (7001 North Scottsdale Road) starting at 7 PM on Thursday December 8! Knock back some drinks, meet Blair Bunting and your favorite FS crew, and debrief our latest project with us. You all may remember Blair from a really popular video we posted from his work with Deadliest Catch. Blair's a really cool dude who loves a good bottle of wine, so don't miss it! See you all there!

[Contest] Win a Black Rapid Strap in our Facebook Group

by Jaron Schneider

December 6, 2011

It's time for another contest Fstoppers! Our Facebook Group has swelled to over 1500 active members. It's a great community and resource for photographers anywhere, as everyone can offer constructive criticism and praise for aspiring shooters. To support the group, we have partnered with the strap masters at Black Rapid and are giving away a Black Rapid SnapR 10 This nifty little bag is perfect for quick access to your compact camera while on the go. How do you win? Join the Facebook Group and submit your best image that you shot with either a point and shoot (compact mirrorless ok!) or your phone! Make sure you note that it is a contest entry in the caption or tag Fstoppers in the post. These days, great photos can be made with the smallest hardware and we want you to prove it. Contest ends January 3, 2012. Good luck!

[Contest] Facebook Group Photoshop Contest Results

by Jaron Schneider

December 6, 2011

Last month, we put up a copy of our brand new DVD, The Art Behind the Headshot up for grabs to the person who could impress Lee with their Photoshop skills. Entrants had to submit one file with both a before and after photo together to our Facebook Group. We got literally hundreds of entries, many of them really fantastic. We were very impressed with the skills of many of you. It was a tough decision, and Lee's choice may surprise you... Check the full post to see the winner and runners up.

[Contest] And the Lowepro November Facebook Contest Winner is...

by Jaron Schneider

December 2, 2011

We received over 1400 entries into our sweepstakes to win a Lowepro Photo Sport AW 200 and this morning I used a random number generator to draw our winner. Congratulations to Kara Marnell! To claim your prize, send me an email with a link to your facebook profile so I can confirm your details (this may require that you accept me as a friend). Stick around and look forward to more contests launching this month! More chances to win great prizes from awesome brands like Lowepro!

[Contests] Last Day to Enter November Contests

by Jaron Schneider

November 30, 2011

Our November Contsts, sponsored by Lowepro and Westcott, are coming to a close! You have just one more day to enter to win some great prizes. On Facebook you can win the new Peter Hurley DVD just by entering a before and after photoshop image to our group page. On the Fstoppers facebook page, just click the Contests tab, answer one question, and you're entered to win a brand new Lowepro bag. On the FS Forums, submit your best self portrait and you could win a new Westcott Apollo Orb. Just click any of the images below to go to the contest you want to enter. Hurry, all contests close tomorrow!

[Gear] Fstoppers Holiday Buying Guide

by Jaron Schneider

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Fstoppers! I know we all haven't even started carving into our turkeys yet, but I wanted to let you know that I have just completed the Fstoppers 2011 Holiday Buying Guide. I made this guide to help narrow down some of the best ideas for gifts for the photographer or videographer in your life. I also made the guide easy to navigate based on budget by dividing the Guide by price. Don't have a lot to spend? Not to worry. There are plenty of great gifts under $100. Want to melt their face off with a ridiculous and unexpected gift? Check out the over $500 category. I will be updating the Buying Guide frequently all the way up until Christmas as more products go on sale or come to my attention. Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to receive quick updates on fire-sale-priced products that won't last long enough to warrant adding them to the Buying Guide. Happy shopping Fstoppers!

[Contest] Win a Lowepro DSLR Video Fastpack through Flickr

by Jaron Schneider

November 22, 2011

Hey Fstoppers! We promised a fourth contest this month, and here it is. Through December 20, enter your best image that you feel defines the theme "Reflections" and win a sick new DSLR Video Fastpack 350 AW from Lowepro. Big thanks to our friends at Lowepro for their generosity this month with the great prizes!

How to win: You must submit a photo that portrays your best interpretation of the theme "Reflections" to the discussion in our Flickr group here. The photo must be in your Flickr photostream. You can only post one image to be considered for this contest. If you post more than one submission you will not be in the running until you delete the extra submissions. The contest will come to an end on December 15, 2011 and the winner will be announced on December 20, 2011. It is free to participate and anyone can enter, but all winners outside the U.S. are expected to pay any and all shipping and handling costs associated with shipping the prize.

[Contest] Win A Lowepro Backpack And Peter Hurley's DVD On Facebook

by Jaron Schneider

November 17, 2011

Fstoppers.com is completely revamping how we do contests. Starting this month, we are going to be doing at least four contests a month. It's a tall order, but we are going to do our best. You already know about our Forum Contest, and to that we are adding two Facebook contests. For the first contest, the folks over at Lowepro offered a generous prize: The Photo Sport AW 200. This bag was honored with the 2011 Popular Photography POP Award for being an Outstanding Photography Product, so of course you want one! Entering is easy: 1) Like us on Facebook. You can find our page at facebook.com/thefstoppers. 2) Find the "Contest" tab under our profile photo. 3) Answer the one question by November 30, 2011. 4) You're one step closer to taking off on your own photographic adventure. With the Photo Sport AW 200, there really is no place you and your camera can't go. The second is a Facebook Group contest. We have a great group that is growing and full of photographers who share their work. Just upload a before and after image of anything you Photoshopped and tag Fstoppers in the image. Make sure your before and after are together in one photo so we don't lose any of the entries. Lee will choose his favorite of the entries and the winner gets a Peter Hurley DVD!

[Video] The Ultimate Strobist Backpack

by Jaron Schneider

November 11, 2011

Now despite the way this apparatus looks, it's actually something that has been discussed by major photo industry companies. Event photographers continually struggle with needing to have their lighting equipment in just the right spot while simultaneously needing to be somewhere else to get the shot. Even if they do get everything in place, seconds later they will need to somewhere else. In the current economic slump, not everyone can afford an assistant, so what can you do? Build yourself a strobist backpack, that's what.

[Contest] Fstoppers Forum Contest: Best Self Portrait Wins An Apollo

by Jaron Schneider

November 8, 2011

Hey everyone! My name is Jaron Schneider and I am the latest addition to the Fstoppers team. If you have been visiting our page or group on Facebook, you may recognize me. I have been tasked with running FS Interactive which is our contests and social medias. We have been getting a lot of questions asking about the contests and we apologize for the wait. However, with patience often comes great things. In addition to our ongoing 2011 BTS Video Contest, we have three monthly contests now in the rotation. More details on the other two soon to come in the next week, but this week we start things off with the return of our forum contest! You have a chance to win a Westcott Apollo Orb, an innovative revamp of the classic photographic lighting tool, the Apollo. The Orb was only officially released last month, so it's a brand new product that we are really happy to give away. Big thank you to FJ Westcott! How to Win: What do you have to do to win? Just register on the forums, find this thread, and submit your best self portrait. This first contest will be judged by myself, Lee and Patrick, but after that the winner will be the judge of the next month's contest (just like old times). The winner will also get their name and photography added to the famed Fstoppers top banner with a link to your personal website. Below is a video showing you some of the features of the Westcott Apollo Orb, and view the full post to see more images and details on the product. Good luck!

[Video] Why You Might Need a Mattebox

by Jaron Schneider

November 6, 2011

For any of you DSLR video shooters out there, you might not know why you may need some of the equipment you often see on some of the larger rigs found on major studio sets. Well the guys over at Cinevate show you exactly why you might need one of those tools called a mattebox. Matteboxes are essentially barn doors for your camera lens and allow you to control flares and the subtleties of light that make a good film into a great film. Cinevate also shows you how using different filters can really make parts of your movie stand out. Read the full post to see some side by side examples so you can really examine the differences closely.