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Stephen Ironside

Fayetteville, AR
Ironside Photography
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Articles from Stephen Ironside

I Bought a Nikon Z 6 and It Wasn't as Bad as I Thought

When Nikon’s Z series mirrorless cameras were introduced, they caught a lot of flak. Although I wasn’t a fan at first, I’m starting to come around. Turns out I just had to use one. I’ve been a Nikon shooter my whole career, starting on a Nikon N6006 35mm film camera in high school, moving to a D200 in college, and on up the chain since then.

What Would You Do if Your Hard Drive Burned? My Visit to DriveSavers Data Recovery

One of my biggest fears as a professional photographer is that someday, somehow, for some reason, I’m going to lose critical images from a shoot and make a client, and myself, very unhappy. A memory card gets corrupted, a hard drive fails, or my studio burns down.  There are so many ways we can lose data — from fires and floods to normal wear and tear to just plain malpractice.

An Unlikely Intruder: The Fly Inside a Professional Canon Lens

What seems like it could have been an April Fools joke if it had come out a few days sooner, the Lensrentals blog has posted a great (and enlightening) story on something that apparently has happened more than once: somehow, for some reason, a full-sized fly got into a lens, and the entire lens had to be disassembled to remove it. The question is: did it affect image quality? 

Fstoppers Reviews Drone Pilot Ground School

Last autumn, I finally decided to get my butt in gear and become FAA Part 107 Certified to be able to fly my drone commercially. Since I had pretty limited time in the busy fall season, and had zero prior aviation knowledge, I decided to give one of the many online courses out there a try. 

On Being Profitable as a Photographer

It’s the height of tax season, and an odd thing just happened to me. I was at my accountant’s office filing my business taxes for 2018 last week, and she said to me, “Wow. I have a lot of photographers as clients, but most of them aren’t making a living.

Interview With President George H. W. Bush's Photographer, David Valdez

How good are we at remembering former presidents decades after their service is over? What are the things that help us to remember their time in office? Obviously, since this is a photography community and education website, I'd wager this: that the photographs taken during their presidency help shape our memories of those years.  

FAA Reauthorization Act Passes, Affects Drone Users

On October 5, President Trump signed the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, funding the Federal Aviation Administration through 2023. The law includes several new measures that could affect drone pilots in the U.S. 

An Iconic Image: 'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper'

If I were a betting man, I'd wager that you've seen this image from 1932 of construction workers sitting on an iron beam, called "Lunch Atop A Skyscraper." I'd also wager that you hadn't thought much about the photographers that took the image. 

Fujifilm Announces the X-T3 Camera

In a week full of mirrorless camera announcements, Fujifilm has stepped up to the plate again with its announcement of the X-T3.  

As an update to the widely popular X-T2, Fuji’s new X-T3 camera has some seemingly modest but very welcomed improvements.

Why Professionals Should Still Assist Other Photographers

I’ve been working as a full-time professional photographer — meaning that 100 percent of my income is from photography — for over eight years. For the most part, I know what I’m doing. But I still make the time to assist other photographers when I can, and here’s why. 

The Photographer's Paradox

Sometimes, as photographers, we get a little tied up in having everything about a shoot be as professional and as perfect as we possibly can. But, as Daniel DeArco points out in this great video, it doesn't always have to be that way. 

What I Learned While Redesigning My Photography Website

Back in March, I got an email saying that my website had been taken down due to malware. Essentially, I got hacked. In the months that followed, I learned some things about being a photographer, about web design, and about myself. 

How to Recommend Cameras to Other People

“What kind of camera should I get?” is probably one of the questions I get asked the most often. So, I’ve become pretty quick at coming up with recommendations, and I figured it might be nice to share how I come up with them. 

Do You Really Know What That Lightroom Backup Button Does?

I recently came across an article by Scott Kelby that talked about something I had taken for granted and figured everyone knew, and thought it would be worth making sure our readers know that not all backups are created equal. 

5+ Quick Photoshop Tips You Might Not Know

I probably won’t ever be, or pretend to be, an expert at Adobe Photoshop; I spend so little time in it, using Lightroom for 90% of what I do, that I just don’t take the time in the program to figure out all of the little tricks that would be useful. In this great video, you’ll learn a new tip every couple of minutes that could really help out your photography and up your Photoshop game.

UPDATE: Irish Photographer Mistaken for Gunman

Some of you may have seen my recent article about the Irish photographer who was mistaken for a gunman while carrying a tripod on a beach to do astrophotography. Here's an update, straight from the source. 

Irish Photographer Mistaken for Gunman

A photographer in Ireland who was out for a stroll with a tripod at night was mistaken for a gunman by a passerby, who called the authorities. A manhunt ensued. And he had no idea.  

Peek Inside a Wildlife Photographer's Gear Stash

Spring is coming. If you're anything like me, you'd rather be out in the woods pretty much all the time right now. And if I'm out in the woods, chances are I have some kind of camera with me. 

Here's a peek into the bag of wildlife photographer John Marriott. I know you're probably curious about what's inside it because, let's face it: we're always curious. 

Teardown of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Its Variable-Aperture Camera

I don’t know about you, but I love a good teardown video. And if it has to do with cameras? Sign me up and hand over the popcorn. Ever since I was young, I’ve always enjoyed taking things apart in hopes of being able to put them back together, and because of that have become a go-to person for friends who need things fixed — phone screens replaced, headphone jacks swapped out, etc.

Taking a Leap for Male Nude Project Promoting Body Positivity

When I spoke with photographer Anthony Manieri, he was sitting at home in the middle of editing images from a routine event before preparing to fly to Los Angeles to do another shoot for a personal project that has been more successful than he ever anticipated.