I have likely made a great many mistakes over the course of my photography career, but one could well still be impacting me today. The question is, are you making it, and if you are, should you do anything to change?
We've all done it: you've taken an image you like but the horizon isn't quite straight and you didn't give yourself enough room to crop without sacrificing your composition. Here is how you can easily straighten a tilted photograph without cropping by using Adobe Photoshop.
Almost every landscape photo requires some degree of editing to create a finished product. Lightroom is far more powerful than it used to be and offers some impressively capable and efficient tools for editing your images. This excellent video tutorial will show you five tips that will make your Lightroom landscape image editing both easier and better.
Sharpness is one of the most fundamental and crucial aspects of a good image, and there are a lot of aspects and techniques you need to have down pat to ensure consistently successful photos. If you are new to photography, check out this awesome video tutorial that discusses some important tips and techniques for ensuring you get sharp photos every time.
You probably have one or more camera bags for transporting your camera equipment. A shoulder bag, a backpack, perhaps a trolley. Do you place your camera in your bag with or without a lens attached? Or does it depend on how you use your camera bag?
A 50mm lens with a very wide maximum aperture can tackle a wide variety of scenarios and needs ranging from portraiture to events coverage. Nonetheless, such lenses can easily run north of $2,000, which makes the $218 price tag on the TTArtisan 50mm f/0.95 lens particularly eye-catching. Can it offer much at that price point, though? This great video review takes a look at its image quality and price to answer that question.
Backlit portraits can be a fantastic way to add drama and visual interest to a photo, but they also require some special considerations to get the effect you want and to maintain the best possible image quality. If you would like to improve your backlit portraits, check out this great video tutorial that features five excellent tips to help you get your photos just right.
Most expensive lenses include a lens hood. For the cheaper lenses, you have to order a lens hood separately. Is a lens hood so important you have to use it, or can you do without such an accessory? Let’s look at lens hoods a bit in this article.
Sharp images are the desire of every photographer, but there are many factors that can derail that pursuit and leave you with frustratingly soft photos. If you are struggling to get crisp shots, check out this helpful video tutorial that discusses six reasons your photos are not as sharp as you would like them to be and what you can do to fix those issues.
Modern cameras and lenses offer remarkably good image quality — levels that were only dreamed of even just a decade ago. And with those increased capabilities have come increased standards and expectations. But at this point, how much image quality do we really need? This interesting video poses the question and examines a scenario where getting the shot might take precedence.
Canon's supertelephoto prime lenses are some of the most extreme lenses out there in terms of image quality, performance, and yes, price. If you are able and willing to shell out for one, though, you can generally expect a superlative experience. So, what exactly does that $13,000 get you? This neat video takes a casual look at the Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM lens to answer that question.
When you think of landscape photography, you probably think of using a lens with a wider focal length range, such as a 16-35mm. Of course, there is a reason such lenses are so widely used, but they are not the only option. In fact, much longer focal lengths can create equally compelling photos. This excellent video tutorial will show why a telephoto zoom lens can help you create eye-catching landscape photos.
Ever since the release of the RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM, Canon has had the pedal to the floor when it comes to lens development, and it seems the company has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. The company is planning the release of another lens later this year that will be an update of one of their hidden gems.
The default behavior of pretty much every camera is to activate autofocus through a half-press of the shutter button. This works perfectly well for most scenarios, but you can often improve your experience and hit rate by using a different method: back-button autofocus. This helpful video will show you why it is so useful and how to take advantage of it.
Insta360’s cameras have been using the same 360 sensor setup for about three years, and now, it’s getting a serious update. Will the quality make up for the bulk?
Sony has expanded their lens lineup quite a bit in the past few years, and they now offer a wide range of focal length options for many applications and budgets. If you are wondering which lenses are right for your work, check out this great video that features an experienced photographer discussing his 10 favorite Sony lenses.
Creating a successful portrait photograph takes knowledge of lighting, posing, proper camera settings, and a lot more. A good composition brings it all together, though with a person as the main focus, you have to make some special considerations. This helpful video tutorial discusses seven common mistakes photographers make when composing portrait images and how to fix them or avoid them entirely in the first place.
Outdoor Photographer awarded the grand prize of their "Great Outdoors 2021" to a composite image that violates the rules of the competition as stated on the official website. This controversy gives rise to an ethical question regarding photography competitions that fail to enforce their own rules.
The Venus Optics Laowa 24mm f/14 Probe lens captured the photography world's attention by being one of the most unique lenses we have ever seen and allowing photographers and filmmakers to get shots that simply would not be possible otherwise. The new Laowa 24mm T14 2x PeriProbe ups the ante over the original, and this neat video takes a look at what you can do with it.
A good composition is a tricky and often elusive thing, particularly since it is not as easily objectively codified as something like the right camera settings for a given scene or situation. As such, any heuristic tricks to go about finding a compelling composition are worth knowing. This excellent video tutorial details one such trick and why it can be really useful.
Here comes the shock: you can get extremely sharp photos with cheap gear. Let’s have a look at what sharpness is and how we can improve it.
Nikon has been busy on the super telephoto lens front as of late. The latest addition, the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S, presents an option for photographers who need the extra reach without straining your budget.
Lightroom is more powerful than ever before, and it is entirely possible to edit a landscape photo from start to finish without having to switch over to Photoshop. If you would like to learn how to do so and pick up some useful tips along the way, check out this great video tutorial that will show you one such edit done entirely within Lightroom.
There's no getting away from it, social media is both important and ever-changing. One way you can keep up and generate a bigger following is by creating short-form videos and this little camera is great for that.
When considering what lens to buy, there are a few features and technical aspects you should consider to help make your choice. If being able to customize the way your lens focuses is important to you, you will want to check out the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2.
Needless to say, there's a fair few logistical complexities when photographing ice cream. After shooting for a vegan ice cream brand for a couple of years now, here are my best tips for running a smooth shoot when you’re capturing ice cream.
Good organization skills are crucial in almost every business environment. The same obviously applies to professional photographers, especially when it comes to managing photos. Many photographers will use the built-in catalog system available in Lightroom. However, a company called Mylio may have a much better solution available for you.
Perhaps no camera brand generates stronger opinions than Leica, with some photographers absolutely swearing by the equipment and experience and others seeing it as overpriced niche gear. Just like any other brand, there are good and bad aspects of using Leica cameras and lenses. This interesting video essay examines the company's lines as they stand in 2022, what they are doing right, and what could be improved.
Knowing how to compose a frame and choose the right camera settings is only half of what it takes to create a good photo. The other half is knowing how to edit the file into a polished final image. If you are new to photography, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you nine effective techniques for creating more compelling and eye-catching images.
When it comes to creating a professional-level portrait, knowing how to light, pose, and photograph your subject is only half the battle. A great portrait also needs a strong edit to be complete. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to edit a portrait from start to finish and show you some helpful tips along the way.
Depth of field is one of the most fundamental and powerful tools a photographer has at their disposal, and as such, mastering it is crucial to taking full technical and creative control of your images. If you are new to photography and wondering about how depth of field works, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know.
The Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8 FE offers a unique focal length in a lens that is quite lightweight and compact in addition to being very affordable, making it an interesting option for portrait photographers. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
When it comes to portrait photography, learning to work with artificial lighting will make you far more versatile and enable creative opportunities that simply would not be possible otherwise. If that is something you would like to start diving into, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you the fundamentals and have you ready to tackle your first shoot.
Tamron makes some fantastically affordable yet high-quality lenses, but perhaps no lens in their lineup offers more bang for the buck than the 35mm f/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2, which comes in at just $199. Despite that exceedingly modest price, the 35mm f/2.8 is a particularly versatile lens, and this great video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
After taking the top end of the market by storm with the Z 9, Nikon looks to secure the other end of the spectrum with a camera designed for social media creation.
Color psychology is one of the most important theories to understand as a photographer. But why is it such a powerful tool for influencing perception?
What urges you to travel, hike, and camp out for landscape photography? How do your emotions affect what you shoot and how the output turns out?
Sometimes, two is better than one when it comes to gear purchases.
We all want to improve our photography and get recognition for our work. However, there are two big distractions that we need to push aside to achieve success in our art. The first obstacle is the largest. Usually hailed as the key to photographic success, it has more disadvantages than helpful attributes.
24-70mm f/2.8 lenses are the workhorses of choice for a wide variety of photographers and filmmakers, suitable for anything from weddings to landscape work and much more. Sony recently released the second iteration of their version, the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II, and this great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.
Here are five tips that save you money and get you high-quality backdrops. This is important because you must stand out as a successful photographer, and we all know that blending into the crowd isn't exactly the best way to book clients.
While browsing through various photo-sharing platforms, you might get the impression that everything has already been photographed. After all, millions of photos get uploaded each day to Instagram alone. But if you take a closer look, you'll see a lot of repetition. Many photos show the same places, the same compositions, and often similar light and editing. Even today, it's possible to discover new photo spots. In this article, I show you my favorite way to do so.
Running a photography business is challenging and earning your first client can be tough. In this article, I will show you how to charge for photography in the three stages of a beginner photographer's career.
Fstoppers has teamed up with Infinite Tools to bring you the best retouching plugins online. These tools are relevant for every type of photographer and will dramatically speed up and improve any retouching workflow. We are offering them at 20% off in the Fstoppers Store through July 5th.
What a time to be alive for photography! Advances in technology, combined with reduction in pricing and the “gear wars” that brands wage against each other continue to make image-making hardware of the highest quality more and more accessible to the every person. This market process continues to make it possible for us to minimize sacrifices in image quality we once made when shooting in less than optimal conditions.
Lightroom recently rolled out a new and far more powerful masking panel, and if you have not taken the time to incorporate it into your workflow yet, you are missing out on some highly useful tools. One particular function, Intersect, is a bit strange and not necessarily intuitive, but once you get the hang of it, it enables quick and powerful edits, and this excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about it.
Seascape photography is so different from shooting landscapes. Its dynamic nature makes it one of our most exciting and challenging subjects. The distinct difficulties of capturing the ocean require a different set of skills and learning some of the secrets of the sea.
A 35mm lens with a wide maximum aperture is one of the most versatile a photographer can have in their bag, offering a wide but relatively neutral focal length in tandem with the ability to leverage narrow depth of field or work in low-light situations. For Sony shooters looking for the best of the best, there is the FE 35mm f/1.4 GM, and this great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it.
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 2022, 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.
Canon Canada just launched Canon Creator Lab as part of what I'm calling its new community-building mandate. A lot of corporations these days talk about building community, about creating a space to encourage growth. Most of it seems to be lip service at best. Here, however, we're seeing Canon Canada invest time and money into a free hub designed to help photographers get better while actually connecting with each other. Being a Canadian, I'm proud that Canon's Canadian operation is looking to lead the global photography community into this space.
