Articles from Andrew Strother

Fstoppers Reviews the Hawkesmill Small Camera Bag

Back in June, I reviewed the Hawkesmill Jermyn Street Camera Bag, which I continue to love to this day. I have used it every day for the past nine months, easily swapping in panels for when I need to carry camera gear and removing them when I just need an awesome daily bag.

Fstoppers Reviews: The Think Tank Airport Security V3.0

Think Tank has long been regarded as one of the go-to companies for bags for the working photographer, and their line of Airport and Airport Security bags in particular are considered by many to be the gold standard of rolling photo bags.

Mastin Labs Releases Filmborn App for Mobile Film Emulation

Kirk Mastin and Mastin Labs are the creators of some of the better known (and more highly regarded) sets of develop presets for digital images to emulate the look of film. Kirk has been working on a mobile app to achieve similar results on the go for a while now, and that app has finally been released. Meet Filmborn. 

What Happened to Apple's 'Why'?

If you spend any time on the Internet, then you’ve probably seen by now that Apple announced their long-awaited updates to the MacBook Pro during an event at their campus in Cupertino.

Apple Releases iOS 10.1 With Portrait Mode for iPhone 7 Plus

Depth of field fakers rejoice, Apple has just released the official build of iOS 10.1. This update notably includes the heretofore beta Portrait Mode for owners of the iPhone 7 Plus, allowing users to simulate depth of field effects on photos taken with the 7 Plus' new secondary camera.

Adobe Announces Ability to Capture and Edit Raw DNG Photos in Lightroom Mobile

Adobe has announced the 2.5 update to their popular Lightroom Mobile app. The new update adds the ability to shoot directly to Adobe's open source raw file format, DNG, avoiding the compression and data loss inherent in standard JPEG files. To capture in DNG, users will need a device running iOS 10 that has a 12 MP sensor, such as the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone S

Apple Announces the New iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

Apple just finished their keynote announcing the new iPhone 7. The new 7 and 7 Plus include some pretty awesome (sounding) camera upgrades that should be another step forward for mobile photographers and videographers.

Lomography Launches Kickstarter for the New Lomo'Instant Automat Camera

Lomography, makers of fun film cameras and cool vintage lenses, has just launched a Kickstarter for their latest instant camera, the Lomo'Instant Automat. The Automat is the second generation of the Lomo'Instant camera and offers updates and improvements over the company's original instant camera that they successfully Kickstarted over two years ago. 

Fstoppers Reviews the ORCA Carry-On Wheeled Suitcase

ORCA is the maker of a wide range of photo and video accessories: primarily bags and other protective gear. They sent me their new rolling camera bag to try out, and I was eager to give it a go. As you'll see below, I've been using a $50 suitcase from Target as a camera bag for the last four years, so I was excited to see how an actual camera bag would hold up. 

Fly a Drone With Your Old Game Boy

The original Game Boy is one of the most iconic gaming systems of all time and as such, continues to inspire the internet to utilize both its aesthetic and its hardware in new and creative ways.

CASE Remote Air Looks to Reduce Size and Improve Performance

CheeringTech, the China-based company behind the original CASE Remote and CASE Remote Plus, are back again with another CASE Remote update and this time they're hoping to drastically improve performance while reducing the physical size of the unit. All this while offering the same features as the industry leader CamRanger. To achieve this, they're launching the CASE Remote Air. 

Animator Imagines Instagram on Windows 95

Everything about this short video by Russian designer Misha Petrick fills me with desperate nostalgia for the 90's. Some people will mock Windows 95, but for me it was a coming-of-age operating system. The first computers I built myself ran Windows 95. Windows 95 is how I discovered Weezer.

Photographer Ben Sassani Takes Us Inside the Home Kitchens of Professional Chefs

Have you ever gone out to a restaurant and seen a chef slaving away in the back for hour after hour, producing one delicious dish after another, and asked yourself, “Do they even enjoy cooking once they get home?” Well the answer to that is “Yes!” and photographer Ben Sassani takes viewers behind the scenes (and refrigerator doors) of some of the top chefs around with his persona

Fstoppers Reviews the Hawkesmill Jermyn Street Bag

I am going to be completely up front with you: this is an expensive camera bag. It is, in fact, the most expensive camera bag I have ever owned, and I have owned many. Instead of buying this bag, you could easily purchase a very solid prime lens. But you know the old saying "you get what you pay for"? Well sometimes that turns out to be 100 percent true. 

A Star Wars Dogfight Recreated Using Drones

The guys over at Cooridor-Digital just released this sweet video using a combination of drones and visual effects to create an awesome dogfight between an X-wing Starfighter and several TIE Fighters.

Google Introduces a Gigapixel Camera to Capture Every Detail of Priceless Art

Google's Cultural Institute was founded in 2011 with the goal of having "important cultural material available and accessible to everyone and to digitally preserve it to educate and inspire future generations." In their pursuit of said goal, Google has just announced their new Art Camera; a robotically controlled gigapixel camera specifically designed for photographing some of th

Gamers Create Amazing 'Photos' in Uncharted 4

Quick synopsis for the non-gamers out there: Uncharted 4 is a brand new game available on the Playstation 4. It is, according to most reviews I've seen, an excellent game. I can't vouch for this personally, as I sold my PS4 last year and got an Xbox, but I do know that the first three Uncharted games were pretty stellar.

No, Your Presets Did Not 'Save Your Images'

This is a pet peeve of mine, so I am going to thank you in advance for indulging me. There seems to be a rampant misunderstanding in certain levels of the photo community as to what editing presets are, and what they actually accomplish. I (like many of you I would assume) am a member of various photo-centric groups on Facebook.

Photographing for a Newspaper: The Best Class Money Can't Buy

I’ve attended plenty of workshops in my time as a photographer. I’ve attended classes taught by Joe McNally, David Hobby, Joel Grimes, and more. I’ve assisted some of the best photographers in a variety of fields, and watched dozens of tutorials put out by some really top-tier shooters.

Impossible Project Announces Their New Instant Film Camera

Impossible Project, the awesome folks that have been bringing you film for your Polaroid 600 instant cameras and even the ability to make Polaroid prints out of your camera phone images, have just announced their all-new instant film camera and it sounds awesome.

Is the Narcissism of Photography Ruining Art?

Human beings have rendered images of themselves in one form or another since the beginning of our species. The desire to try and capture the human essence in something that will outlast the physical body is universal; the need to encapsulate our understandings of “self” and “others” is found in every culture throughout the world.

11 Easy Ways to Improve Your Sports Photography

With our current sports-focused Critique the Community, now seems like a great time to share some tips and best practices to help you improve your sports and action photography in 2016. Read on for 11 solid suggestions to help you become a better shooter. 

'That One Time' Mike Mellia Took the Best Selfies Ever

I hate being in front of the camera, and I think many photographers feel the same way. So when I discovered Mike Mellia and found out that his Instagram account is almost 99% self-portraits, I was more than a little impressed. But wait! Many of his selfies are also cinemagraphs? I don't know how much more impressed I can get.  

Intel Uses 100 Drones to Set a Beautiful World Record

We can all agree that there's nothing wrong with a little publicity stunt, as long as it's awesome, right? I think that Intel has achieved that with this video they released during their CES keynote last week in Las Vegas.

Spoiler-Free Star Wars Portraits from Time Magazine

I have been unfailing in my anti-spoiler vigilance. I haven't watched previews, I haven't read articles, I haven't clicked links. A trailer came on during the finale of Fargo Monday night and I ran from the room with my hands over my ears. I'm taking this seriously.

"Instagram Hikers" Are They Helping or Hurting Our National Parks?

New York Magazine recently published a fascinating article on the apparent phenomenon of "Instagram Hikers." The piece looks into the recent surge in so-called "Instagram Hikers", described by the article as "the sorts of people who see a pretty photo on Instagram and want to go take their own picture in that spot," and the impact they are having on America's national parks.&nbsp

FAA: Drone Owners Must Register by February 19, 2016

The FAA has been working on establishing rules and regulations for drone owners for several months, and today they have announced a mandatory registration law for drone operators that goes into effect on December 21 of this year. Starting on December 21, you will be to apply at the new FAA registration website. 

Instagram Husbands - A PSA for the Men Behind the Photos

"Behind every cute girl on Instagram is a guy like me, and a brick wall." The latest video from the folks behind The Mystery Hour gives us a glimpse into the lives of the men who take the photos of the ladies of Instagram. 

'Un Petit Tour Dans Paris' Is a Stop-Motion Love Story in the City of Light

French Filmmaker Maxime Baudin recently made this delightful short film in Paris that depicts a flirtatious couple. Baudin utilized stop-motion to make the film and describes it like this: "In a splendid and romantic Paris, while everything is going too fast, a young man rides a ‘bicycle.’ But his simple ride is going to take on a whole new dimension."