Dixie Dixon has been a good friend of Fstoppers over the years, and she even came down to the Bahamas with us for the first Fstoppers Workshop. Lee and I have been preaching since the start of FS that photographers need to film behind the scenes videos their own photoshoots.
How many times have you seen that popular meme that inaccurately says today is the "Back to the Future" day?
Many photographers rely on their 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.4 lenses to give that dreamy, narrow depth of field look to their portraits. These two lenses have become a staple for portrait, headshot, wedding, and boudoir photographers who enjoy the soft look that comes with a narrow depth of field and natural lighting.
UPDATE: Results from our reader's poll can be found here! Last week we released our head to head competition review between the Sony A7RII, the Nikon D810, and the Canon 5DsR ultra high megapixel cameras.
Lately it seems that DJI has been releasing innovative video tools every single month. Known primarily for their ultra popular Phantom and Inspire 1 drone systems, DJI just announced today that they are releasing their own handheld 4K camera and gimbal called the Osmo.
This is some rather sad news I have to bring everyone. At the moment there are only 500 FlashDisc units left in our Amazon UK store and we will not be replenishing them once they are sold out.
Last month Fstoppers teamed up with SLR Lounge and BH Photo for an exciting camera giveaway. If you missed the entry post, basically we were giving one lucky winner their choice between the Nikon D810, Sony A7RII, and the Canon 5DsR high megapixel cameras.
The images from the September 11th tragedy are no doubt stuck in all of our minds. For most of us, the phrase "9/11" instantly reminds us of a plane hitting the World Trade Center, smoke billowing out of the two buildings, or the heroic images of rescue workers attempting to save lives after the buildings had collapsed.
Aerial photography has always been something that I have found interesting. Seeing so many of our writers like David Geffin, Mike Kelley, and Noam Galai capture exciting photos and video from the sky has inspired me to finally attempt my first doors-off helicopter excursion. In just one short one-hour ride, I've learned a lot of do's and don'ts as well as a bunch of things to experime
It could be argued that the 80's pushed the experimental envelope further than any other decade before it. For the first time in history, consumers were able to watch movies in the privacy of their own homes, the camcorder brought home video recording to the masses, and digital technology opened the doors for tons of horrible musical and visual effects.
Oh the world of high end retouching. This week cosmetic company Dior released a new video and ad campaign featuring their hot spokeswoman, Jennifer Lawrence. With a not so subtle nod to Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, this new lipstick commercial isn't so bad upon first watch.
If you ask any well-known and successful photographer what the most important thing you can do to grow your business is, they will almost all point towards shooting personal projects. Before the end of every day, I try to visualize at least one creative and interesting idea that might be worth photographing. Nine times out of ten, those ideas are complete garbage. Every now and t
The Profoto B1s are the battery operated smaller brother of the Profoto D1 monoblocks. One major advantage they have over their AC counterpart is that you can freeze super fast motion much easier than you can with the D1s.
Here I am on a Saturday night tucked away in my photography office finally listening to Dr. Dre's new album. With just two real full length albums, Dre is one of my all time favorite artists, and I always enjoy researching the samples and references he uses in his music.
Erik Almas is one of my all time favorite photographers. His work mixes equal parts clever advertising and personal vision in a way that makes each image intriguing to study. But behind all of his brilliant images is a businessman who works diligently to get his brand in front of art buyers and advertising agencies.
I personally have never used a Wacom tablet or stylus in my life. They always seemed like the most useful post-processing tool ever, but I never bit the bullet and tested the waters. However, after filming Elia Locardi edit over 40 images for his "Photographing the World" landscape series, I am confident enough to finally give it a try myself.
Almost every photographer has found one of their images reproduced online without their permission. The first question you might ask yourself is "how much money can I get for this infringement?" However, copyright law can be extremely difficult to understand and there are many common or case law rulings that factor in on how an image can be used fairly or commercially.
Anyone who has been booked as a wedding photographer knows that this genre of photography can be extremely challenging. Perhaps no other field of photography throws as many variables at you more than those found on a typical wedding day.
Have you ever wanted to create a dramatically lit portrait but you have felt limited by your lack of camera gear? Pye Jirsa over at SLR Lounge has just released a very technical video showing how you can accomplish complex lighting with just a single on-camera flash.
A few months ago I featured a hot deal on the Nikon D750 DSLR camera being sold by a reputable ebay seller. Today Canon users can get in on a similar deal. Right now you can save $700 on a brand new flagship Canon 5Ds on Ebay.
The website WallPart (intentionally not linked to) claims to be "the world's largest online shop of posters...with over 10 billion images." What they do not tell you is that their database is filled with stolen and copyrighted images from photographers around the world.
Have you ever wondered what Donald Trump would look like if you combined 50 random photos of him and averaged them together? That's exactly what Reddit user Dwainosaur did with his latest photo/data mashup.
Beth Moon is a photographer who specializes in classic black and white imagery. Over the last 14 years she has been traveling the world documenting the oldest and largest trees on the planet. To promote her new book "Ancient Trees: Portraits in Time," Moon has shared this behind-the-scenes video of her platinum printing darkroom process which is pretty interesting to watch.
The future of sharing live video through social media is definitely heating up through apps like Periscope and Meerkat. Basically these apps turn your phone into a live streaming webcam that you can use to share whatever you want to the world.
This is a really clever marketing tool using photography. The prototype agency Breakfast has created a super complex billboard made entirely of spools of thread (6,400 to be exact). These bobbins are wrapped with fabric containing 36 colors and can mechanically recreate any image sent to its processor.
When it comes to all things headshots and manipulating human expression, the best guy to seek council from is Peter Hurley. Peter's career has spanned about 15 years now, and over those years he has gained a tremendous amount of knowledge.
Winner picked tomorrow! The creators of Gulf Photo Plus, one of the best photography workshops in the world, are coming to Seattle this Sept for their annual PopUP GPP event Sept 19-20. Together we have partnered to give one lucky winner the chance to not only attend the event but also $250 towards travel.
Since Lee and I first started Fstoppers 5 years ago, we have always wanted it to be a place for inspiration, news, reviews, and of course educational behind the scenes material. One thing has always been missing though, and that is the voice of you our readers.
Only 3 Days Left! From now until June 1st we are running 5 photography contests and choosing 5 separate winners. Simply submit your best portrait, wedding, glamour, fashion, or landscape photograph to win your choice of any Fstoppers tutorial in the Fstoppers store or 3 Fstoppers FlashDiscs. For more details, read all the contest rules below:
The other night I was asked "what is the most frustrating thing about shoot weddings?" I thought about this question for a second and shockingly my answer had nothing to do with bridezillas, wedding planners, hot and humid weather, or even post production. Easily the most frustrating thing about shooting weddings is dealing with unreliable radio triggers during the reception.
There are few things that can boost your video production more than adding a smooth camera movement. One tool that every filmmaker needs to utilize from time to time is a camera crane.
UPDATE INSIDE: Nikon's newest camera, the D750, is our all time favorite DSLR camera ever. We own the D750 and D810 cameras and actually favor the D750 for video and wedding work because of its small size, articulating screen, fast focusing, and manageable 24mp full frame sensor (the D810 is a badass camera too).
If you are a videographer or a photographer dabbling in video you know how much of a pain in the ass it can be cutting interview footage with just one camera angle. The feared "jump cut" in an interview can completely ruin the overall production and professionalism of your entire video project.
Let's face it; the industry is changing. Art directors and potential clients are not looking to simply hire a photographer anymore. They do not care about your lighting, your gear, or even your previous clients. So what do they care about then?
