Articles from Nick Pecori

What happens when you throw together a shoot with two fashion models, one photographer, and an iPhone? We went ahead and found out for ourselves. As a professional photographer, the most popular question I receive on a daily basis is, "What camera and lens do you shoot with?" I also hear "My camera isn't good. What camera and lens should I buy?" When asked that question, I always make sure to emphasize that great light trumps great gear every time. That inspired me to do put down the D810 and practice what I preach. And what better way than to break in my iPhone 7 Plus?

Love him or hate him, it is hard to ignore the impact that Kanye West has made over the past decade and beyond in the creative world. He has left his fingerprints all over the industry whether it's as a recording artist, songwriter, fashion designer, or an entrepreneur. He has slivered his way into a category that he has actually created; it is hard to define or even completely understand his genre. And that's why it can be very inspiring to listen to him explain what goes on in his mind when the lights are dim and his guard is down. As a creative with your opinions of him aside, this two minute monologue makes you think.

Last week I had the pleasure and honor to be interviewed by Clarke Scott whose podcast, Hack The Creative, is a weekly series that dives into the habits, fears, inner-battles, and keys to success from his guests who are creatives from all over the industry. We discussed a wide array of topics including my backstory and career path; practices I use today to sustain and grow my career, as well as what my aspirations as a creative are going forward. I go completely unfiltered and bare all for all of you to listen to as Scott "hacked" me.

Double-check your focus on your photos, Instagrammers! The social platform has begun a slow rollout on its latest update: the ability to pinch and zoom on images. But is this update foreshadowing what's about to come?

One more has passed, the event that unites the world together showcasing the best athletes on earth has come to a close in Brazil. We witnessed triumph, we witnessed heartbreak, legacies stamped, and living legends made. Packed in the two weeks of the summer Olympic games were hundreds of special moments, some even iconic that we'll remember for years to come. And it was up to the photographers to make sure these moments would live on forever.

You may have purchased your first DSLR camera, you may have already fallen in love with the art of photography, you may be thinking about taking your work to the professional level, but what would my best piece of advice be to an aspiring professional photographer? My advice may surprise you. 

Virtual war. That's what Instagram declared yesterday when the Facebook-owned social media giant rolled out their latest update sharing an all too familiar user experience touted by rival platform, Snapchat. What are they doing? How could this happen? Why are they doing this? After turning over a few stones, we saw this coming from a mile away. Facebook and Instagram ultimately decided that if you can't buy them, become them.

Sometimes, we admire one's work, but we may not understand the path they took or how they perceive images of their own. For a few years now, Photographer Dennis Ramos has graced the front page with his popular photos and Photos of the Day here on Fstoppers. I had the great opportunity to sit down with Ramos for an interview at Tampa Image Factory to find out what exactly his photographic journey entailed in order to become one of the best black and white fine art photographers around.

Following suit with the likes of the Brooklyn Beckhams of the world, it should come as no surprise that one of the Kardashians (technically) is taking a stab at the other side of the lens (that isn’t a well lit, angled, and photoshopped selfie). Kendall Jenner’s work photographing Kaia Gerber, daughter of Cindy Crawford, has been featured for the UK-based Love Magazine. But the question that underlies in Jenner’s debut as a "fashion photographer" is what direction the photography industry as we know it is heading?

It's all in the details. Adding elements like wind is a great option to add more life and emotion into your photographs. Studio photography and natural light photography can be very different genres. In the studio, you’re in total control of your environment and surroundings, and having an industrial fan that plugs into a wall is pretty standard in most studios. Unfortunately with natural light, you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature. But that’s OK; with this inexpensive tool you will add a little “studio flair” to your natural light portraits.

Sharing your images on the web from point A to point B, in this case, from your desktop to Instagram, can be quite a hassle. You have to make a separate folder in your Dropbox, email it, or send it to yourself (there are a variety of ways), and clog up a bunch of storage on your phone. Yes, I know there several back door methods that have been discussed prior on this issue, and while Instagram has not yet made a plunge into the desktop world, we'll have to make do until then. But in the mean time, I came across this super user-friendly, free Lightroom plug-in that solidifies a solution!

Last year I shared my method of how I export my photos for sharing with clients and social media without losing quality. While that method is proven, it was always still a pain to share a separate file for full resolution, not to mention that full resolution photos can push 20 MB a piece. Thankfully, I was introduced to an app that overcomes all of this.

Last year, we shared Andreas Varro's popular photo series 'The Condom Challenge' here on Fstoppers. Varro has now pushed the limits, or in this case, the deep depths in his latest project. He was called for a commercial shoot for one of Sweden's most exclusive restaurants. How he came to his final composition is something you need to see to believe! 

It's not every day when you come across a camera like this. We took a look to how the new Sony RX10 III fared with its impressive spec sheet, and it did not disappoint!

We've seen many documentaries giving a close up look to the rigors of climbing the world's highest summit. Professional climbers Adrian Ballinger and Cory Richards are showing us a behind the scenes look like we've never seen before.

Sometimes technically perfect does not translate to visually appealing. We've been taught since our photographic infancy to follow the "Rule of Thirds" to save yourself from making beginner mistakes. But the photographer from Denmark, James Allen Stewart, has gone against the grain and questioned the "Rule of Thirds."

Get your smartphones out! Brace yourself for some Snapcodes! For Part Two of our Snapchat series, we've compiled a list of photographers and creatives that you should be following!

DJI turned some heads last month when they unleashed their latest version of their Phantom series, the Phantom 4. The Phantom 4 has become a breakthrough drone with its new high-end features at a consumer price. Not only does it fit a consumer budget, but it also is an easy and safe drone to fly for beginners. How do I know this? This is the first drone I have ever flown, and we put it to the test. 

This past Sunday, there was a report out of the United Kingdom from police that a British Airways aircraft collided with what was believed to be a drone. After investigations were initiated, the believed drone actually may have been a plastic bag.

Recently, a gear company you may be familiar with, Tether Tools, released their new Case Relay Power System (CPS). This contraption allows you to shoot continuously without any interruption or having to keep recharging batteries. So, I decided to put it to the test and travel almost 100 miles away with just the power system and no batteries.

When will people learn? It's usually the minority that ruin the fun for the masses, and it looks like we have that situation across the pond at Heathrow Airport in London, England. An incident has been reported to police this afternoon at 12:50 pm about a drone colliding with a plane. This would be one of, if not the first reports of a drone actually striking an aircraft. 

We love our images. We put our heart, soul, sweat, and tears into our work and we can't wait to share it with the world! But one of the more popular practices in the photography industry is watermarking. The concept behind watermarking is understandable and useful, but in reality, is it really a necessity? I will explain why for my third installment of my community discussions.

While researching and deciding on what camera or lens to buy next, there can be a lot of banter, back and forth, and noise on opinions on what camera or lens is right for you. It is possible that some websites, influencers, or average Joe’s can hold slanted biases that may play a role in your purchasing decision, and we don’t want that. So what if I told you that there was a more objective resource to help aid your purchasing decisions? Well, I have a site to share with you: DxOMark.

I'm sure you're all fatiguing a bit with the Instagram news lately, but this time, it is positive. Since its introduction in June 2013, video on the social media platform has been a success, especially for advertisers. Recently, they appealed to more advertisers by switching from video "likes" to video views. Now, the platform has announced they are extending the video duration allowed extensively. 

Well, it's official. The app once known for its convenient, chronological order of posts is no longer. As I woke up this morning and did my usual routine of running through emails and social media, I noticed something odd. I opened Instagram, and the first post wasn't the most recent. It looks like the rumors were true, at least for me. 

As the next chapter of the American Presidency approaches, the field has narrowed down to a handful of candidates to lead the free world. On each side of the ballot, unlikely and polarizing figures such as Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have risen as serious contenders to take the seat at the Oval Office. But who are these people that support them? A photographer discovered this for himself.

Instagram has continued to transcend the way we share our work, our brand, and lives through our mobile devices. It's safe to say that it has taken over Facebook as the preferred mainstream social media platform to share our work. Fellow Writer Ryan Cooper recently put a great article together about features that could use overhauls and improvements. I decided to add some issues that I've run into time and time again and put together an Instagram suggestion box for the Fstoppers community. 

Since the birth of social media, almost every business, public figure, and of course, creative, like us, are discovering new, interesting ways to engage with their following to portray value. In our industry, engagement and creativity in garnering it is very essential because of the abundance of noise and content that exists in the social media world. By constantly looking for new ways to engage with their fans and projecting value to clientele, there are always innovative ways to fill the gap. With that being said, there’s a new kid on the block and its name is Snapchat. 

Just like learning in any practice or aspect of life, the more you learn, the more you realize what you don't know or haven't learned. It's natural; it happens. There's so much for all of us to learn. Here are a few mistakes that I couldn't believe I was making during my photography career.

We've all been there at one point, watching an in-depth Photoshop tutorial to help hone and develop your skills. But if you're not fortunate enough to have multiple monitors, it can be a real pain in the ass going back and forth from the video and Photoshop to follow along. Isn't there an easier way to do this? Introducing the new Fluid Browser app.

This year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition has not only progressed in it’s presentation and it’s cover models like plus-sized model Ashley Graham, but on the back cover of the latest edition has a clever ad run by Snickers. The ad presents huge Photoshop fails, can you spot the mistakes?

Do you feel at a certain point, after making a long run of photoshoots, that you're hitting a wall with your creative side? Or have you "lost your touch" so to speak? This is also known as "Creative Burnout." As creatives, we've all been there before. At one point we all plateau and need to find a way to break the "funk" to get back of the swing of things. So how do we overcome this?

To follow my previous article which stirred a healthy discussion about sharpness and whether that it's vital or not, it inspired to me to ask my fellow peers another question. Are the amount of megapixels on your camera crucial, or do other factors and features hold more value when purchasing a camera? Here are my thoughts.

Just as we wrapped up the discussion involving amateur photographer Brooklyn Beckham shooting for a prestigious fashion brand, basketball superstar and now amateur photographer Kevin Durant put down the basketball and picked up his Canon 7D to capture the Super Bowl as a credentialed photographer. In his writeup for the Player's Tribune, he tells his story and shares what he captured.