Articles from Andrew Strother

Become a Black and White Editing Master With These Techniques in Capture One

Capture One is known as a serious tool for serious photographers, and there is no doubt that you can get some serious results by taking the time to dig in and master its myriad of features. One great way to utilize C1 is to take advantage of its black and white conversion engine to generate some truly stunning images. 

Fstoppers Reviews the New and Improved Luxury Camera Bag From Hawkesmill

Three years ago, I reviewed the original camera bag offering from the team at Hawkesmill and it has remained my favorite bag in the years since. Recently, Hawkesmill reached out to me about reviewing their updated and improved model. Read on to hear how the best bag has been made even better. 

Are Deaths by Selfie an 'Epidemic'?

There is no denying that we live in a selfie-obsessed culture; just go, well, anywhere, and you'll see selfies being taken. A recent study in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care found over 250 verified "deaths by selfie" from October 2011 to November 2017, with a mean age of almost 23 years old.

Vimeo Acquires Video Creation Platform Magisto

Vimeo, the popular video hosting platform, has announced their acquisition of the video production service Magisto. Magisto, an Israeli startup with over 100 million users, markets their service as a "smart video editor transforms the video and photos you shoot into polished short movies with emotion and excitement at the core of every story." The platform utilizes AI to help use

Photo of Australian Footballer Sparks Controversy

A photo of Australian footy star Tayla Harris made headlines last week when a post featuring the image was uploaded the the Channel 7 AFL broadcaster's Facebook page and began garnering a slew of derogatory and sexual comments. The photo, taken by AFL photographer Michael Willson, shows Carlton star forward Tayla Harris kicking her first goal of the game during a match between her sid

Fstoppers Reviews: The Badger Unleashed TTL & HSS Strobe

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the team at Interfit just took the crown for "Best Affordable Strobe With A Nature-Inspired Name" from the longtime champ Alienbees. First things first, let's get the introductions out of the way. Interfit has been around for what I would describe as "forever".

Elevate Your Macro Photography With These Great Tips

Just about every photographer tries their hand at macro photography at some point in their life. Follow some of the tips in this great little video, and you just might be able to get the kind of shots you've always dreamed of. 

How Apple Created Those Badass Watch Faces for the New Apple Watch

In case you haven't heard, Apple announced some new devices about a week ago, one of which was the Apple Watch 4. One of the most striking things about the announcement was the intense new watch faces shown during the demo that varied from fire, to water, to colored clouds of dust. 

Fstoppers Reviews the Kodak Everyday Pack from Mastin Labs

I've made no secret of my love for various film emulation presets put out by the fine folks over at Mastin Labs, and their latest release is no exception. The Kodak Everyday Pack is the latest addition to a line of what I consider to be the most accurate and faithful film emulation presets on the market today. 

Fstoppers Reviews Invoice Templates From InvoiceHome.com

If you're a full-time photographer, or have been in the game for a while and are making consistent money with your camera, there's a good chance you've got a pretty solid invoice system set up (if you don't then you need to!).

Fstoppers Reviews the K&F Concept Aluminum Tripod

I tend to be fairly wary of brands I've never heard of before, particularly when it comes to buying something that is meant to keep my camera from falling over, but the guys over at K&F Concept offered to let me test out one of their tripods so I figured I might as well throw caution to the wind and give it a go. Is the K&F Aluminum Tripod the perfect value tripod for you?

Photographer Felix Hernandez Shoots Epic Scenes Using Miniature Cars

Confession: I love me some Felix Hernandez, and I'm pretty sure the rest of Fstoppers would agree with me. Felix first came onto my radar when we did an article on his piece "The Wardrobe" in June of last year. Then, later that same month, he won "Fstoppers Photographer of the Month" where a variety of his awesome miniature-based photography was featured.

These 'Game of Thrones' Photos From Time Magazine Are Colorful to Say the Least

Allow me to put on my curmudgeon hat for a moment, but do you ever feel like photographers shooting for big publications will sometimes go for wild off-the-wall creative concepts that seem to just fall flat? That's how I feel about these portraits of "Game of Thrones" actors for Time magazine from British Photographer Miles Aldridge. 

Actor Matthew Modine Auctions Off Rare On-Set Photos From 'Full Metal Jacket' for Charity

Matthew Modine played the lead role of Pvt. Joker in Stanley Kubrick's iconic film about the Vietnam War. Modine used his personal Rolleiflex camera to capture behind-the-scenes images of the almost two years the film was in production. Now, he is auctioning 12 of those images off with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the Purple Heart Foundation.

Meet Mendr: The Uber of Photoshop

"Could you Photoshop this for me?" I'm pretty sure that's something every photographer hears on a far more regular basis than any of us would like. I get it, people want better photos. Maybe they didn't see that trash can in the background, or they couldn't get everyone with their eyes open at once, or they didn't like the color of shirt they were wearing in the photo.

DJI's New $499 Spark Drone Looks Fun as Hell

DJI just announced their latest drone, the $499, borderline pocket-sized Spark. The Spark is smaller than a dinner plate, weighs less than a can of Coke, and packs some of DJI's coolest tech inside its teensy tiny body. 

How to Add a Sweet Freeze-Frame Effect to Your Videos

Some of my favorite video editing tricks and tools are quick and subtle edits that have a lot of impact on the final piece. This tutorial from videographer Casey McPerry is definitely one of those tools that I will be adding to my bag. The freeze-frame effect McPerry teaches you how to create can be seen in this shot clip from his Instagram feed.

DJI Announces Plans to Cripple Unregistered Drones

DJI issued a press release this past Saturday detailing their "new application activation process" that will go into effect at the end of this week. Users who do not register their drones with the site will find their units subject to "restricted operations." 

'Shapes of San Francisco' Project Paints the Bay Area in Black and White

Black and white photography is an interesting thing; it can be used to enhance beautiful images or hide the flaws of mediocre ones. The best black and white photos are done with intention and an understanding of how the lack of color affects a viewer's perception of an image.

NYC's 'Freelance Isn't Free' Act Goes Live Today!

Last October, New York City became the place in the country to pass a law protecting the rights of freelance workers. Today the bill known as the Freelance Isn't Free Act, officially went into effect.  

Fstoppers Pre-Release Review: FREECAST Wireless Video System

One of the disadvantages of GoPro and DSLR video setups is your inability to use them in a broadcast setting. GoPro attempted to address this with their HEROCast system to the tune of $7,500, which is out of the reach of most average consumers.

Fstoppers Reviews: Mastin Labs Portra Pushed Film Presets

Mastin Labs out of Seattle is the creator of some of my favorite film emulation presets for Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. Today they're releasing their latest preset pack, Portra Pushed. Check it out my review of the pack after the jump. 

Cinetics Launches Their (Fantastic!) LYNX Motorized Slider on Kickstarter

You might remember the team from Cinetics from their original product, CineSkates. Well, they're back at it, this time with a big update to their motorized slider system that they're calling "LYNX." We try to avoid promoting Kickstarters when possible, but I've had the chance to play with a pre-production unit of the LYNX system and have been blown away. 

Fstoppers Reviews Skillshare.com (Or: My New Favorite Tool for Learning)

We live in a world of excessive options, often leading to crippling cases of “analysis paralysis.” This reality is particularly prevalent in the world of online learning. I can’t even count the number of YouTube videos I have to search when I want to learn a particular skill, before I finally find a half decent one or give up and teach myself.

Instagram is Beta Testing a New 'Albums' Feature

It looks like album uploads will soon be coming to Instagram. The photo sharing app appears to be playing around with a new feature that will allow users to upload multiple images in a single post. The Verge, Droid-Life, and Philip Chang on Twitter have all confirmed the presence of the new (albeit buggy) feature in the latest beta version of the Instagram app for Android devices. 

Fstoppers Reviews: The Lensbaby Trio 28

Lensbaby has been making creative effect lenses for SLR and DSLRS for many years, and maintain a high level of popularity among a wide range of photographers. They have three primary “looks” that they sell in their lenses: selected focusing, soft focus, and a “twist” effect (similar to a Petzval lens).