Articles from Chelsey Rogers

Tripod plates. If you're like us at Fstoppers, you have a ton of tripods and a ton of tripod plates, and it's sometimes a struggle finding the correct plate to match the tripod. Give the boys a break; I'm trying to teach them how to organize. Not only is "where's that tripod plate!?" a common outburst in the office, but so is "does anyone have their keys?" Thinguma is a tool made for photographers so we don't have to ruin our car keys to change plates. 

If you don't listen to podcasts, you should. The guys over at Visual Revolutionary, a great photography podcast, interviewed our very own Lee Morris recently about how he got his start in the photography business, and also how he and Patrick Hall started Fstoppers. Let's all gather around the digital radio and take a listen. 

Bro, sick shot! We all know those iPhone photographers (yeah, we are looking at you, Andrew Griswold) who may sometimes take their photoshoots a little too far. The team over at AwesomenessTV perfectly captured what it's like to get a cup of coffee with an Instagram Bro. Please Bro, quit embarrassing us, and just drink your coffee. 

Are you a Photoshop expert? Fstoppers is starting a new weekly Photoshop contest for our community! We want you to submit your best photoshopped images in the groups where fellow photographers will vote for their top five favorite images. Of those top five, one lucky winner will be chosen and win their choice of an Fstoppers tutorial. This week we are focusing on your most creative photoshops within wedding photography!

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a video editor? Well, look no further. The team at Lixi Studio created this informative, and flipping hysterical how to video, so that you can learn what it takes to edit film. 

"Hey, I just got this sick Phantom drone, dudes!" Everyone gathers around in awe. "Hold my beer; we're going fishing." This is how I imagine the conversation went down for this ingenious video of fishing for longtail tuna with a drone. 

Ah, the selfie stick. And here we were thinking this was a new invention! Taken in 1934, Helmer Larsson and his wife, Naemi Larsson, show true human ingenuity as they pose for a portrait together in Wermland, Sweden, using a literal selfie stick. I think this is the first photograph I've seen where a selfie stick doesn't make the user look like an absolute tool.

This little flying camera packs a punch. Weighing in at less than 250 grams (half a pound), the Hover Camera is a drone that you don't have to register with the FAA. It folds up, so it's super portable, and with the ability to film in 4K and auto-follow, you'll want to keep your eye on this one. 

Online photo community Photocrowd.com, which recently launched a platform allowing photographers to create their own online store and sell prints of their work, has just gone public with a crowd-funding campaign. Fstoppers thought it was time to take a closer look at this community that’s drawing favorable comparisons with the likes of 500px and Flickr.

Documentary Filmmaker Janssen Powers makes me want to go to the mountains immediately. The beautiful Pacific Northwest is on amazing display in "Muir Song," an ode to naturalist and conservationist John Muir. Fittingly released on what would have been his 178th birthday, Powers takes us on a beautiful journey through the mountains and sea. If after watching this video you haven't booked your tickets (or if you're lucky to live there and don't go outside immediately), there is truly something wrong with you. 

It's back! There's a huge sale on the ever-popular Nikon D750. Today on eBay, you can purchase it for only $1,299, but you'll need to hurry; there's a limited quantity of these awesome cameras. 

Are you a photographer or videographer who loves to write? Fstoppers.com is looking to hire several creative professionals to write for us. If you enjoy reading Fstoppers, and think you may have something to offer, we want to hear from you! 

I'll be the first to say it, smoke bombs are usually too Tumblr for my taste. Generally you see them with a moody girl looking off into the distance in some backyard forest. I never got the point of those images. But I found myself mesmerized by "Chromaticity"; the smoke bombs were alive, more like wayward spirits hovering above the big blue. I was so entranced it took me half of the video to realize they were attached to drones, and the drones were nowhere to be seen. 

Who else is sick of hearing the same five Premium Beat songs in what seems like every advertisement on TV right now? Well, fear not, a new site is in town to help you with your short film or commercial projects, and there is plenty of variety. For $199 a year, Art-list gives you access to universal licenses and unlimited downloads for all of your music needs. Yes, you read that right, unlimited downloads. 

A few weeks ago, we asked the Fstoppers Community to submit their best Concert Photography, you all rocked out! It took us a little longer to get the Critique back in front of your eyes with Lee Morris' wedding and finishing up the new Joey Wright Swimwear tutorial, but we finally have it ready for you. We selected twenty of our favorite images to review. Take a look at the selections and add your thoughts in the comments below! 

Raise your hand if you've ever shot a wedding. Yeah, I know; most of us photographers at some point in our career have either dabbled in or have been full-time wedding photographers. For many, shooting weddings is the first time you get paid for your craft. If you're just getting started in the wedding industry, check out this video with Pye Jirsa from SLR Lounge and Jay P. Morgan from Slanted Lens as they discuss 10 tips for wedding photography.

We all know it's a little bit more competitive for females to "make it" in the photography and film industries. Yes, it is. The gender gap is real, and I'm not being a feminazi. There are studies about this — science. Even women who are the main characters in films don't get paid as much as their male counterparts (Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games, anyone?). It's even worse for women who are behind the screen, the creators of these big projects. The team over at Vimeo isn't having it anymore, so they are doing something about it. 

Food is a part of our everyday lives and yet something a lot of people take for granted. How often do you stop and look at food, noticing how produce changes throughout the seasons? Not many of us do, unless you are a food photographer or have a chef in the family. Artists Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves got up close and personal on their most recent collaboration, "Food Scans," cutting up produce to reveal its patterns and scanning them to create beautiful, intricate imagery. 

Forming quite the super team duo, Sports Illustrated teamed up with Fashion Photographer Yu Tsai this month to shoot the cover shot for their Sportsperson of 2015, Serena Williams. You can watch the video for a behind-the-scenes look at how Tsai got these great shots. 

Hey, you creeper, yeah, we see you. You're just here, lurking to read some articles, and we can respect that. Well, did you know that we have a whole community here, filled with professionals and hobbyists alike? We want you to be a part of it! 

HEX is a creative brand, and photographers are creative people. Just like we as photographers want our shots to be our own, we want our camera bags to have a unique look. That's just what HEX did through design, aesthetics, and protective elements - they designed HEX camera bags for the modern photographer. We reviewed the HEX DSLR Sling and DSLR Backpack; here's what we thought.

Moustaches and Beards. The ultimate sign of masculinity, or so some say. Every year there is a National Competition, "The Just for Men National Beard and Moustache Championship presented by Hanes X-Temp," to show off all of hard work of beard connoisseurs. Photographer Cristopher Benitah was there to capture the show. 

[UPDATE: A winner has been chosen. Congratulations to Verginiya Yancheva for getting 48 upvotes for her image! Check out her winning image below.]

We are teaming up with Moleskine and MILK to give away one of their new Leather Albums (valued at $795), and YOU are all judges! Submit your images, and the Fstoppers Community will upvote their favorite image which they believe "belongs in an album." There are just two simple steps to enter! 

If you're like me, you have way too many apps on your smartphone. I know this might sound crazy coming from Fstoppers, but we really do rely too much on our phones. Yes, even the great iPhone 6s Plus. “Connectivity Lost,” by filmmaker Walter Stoehr, is a short showing what could go wrong if we depend on our phones too much.  

This week, I was able to watch Karl Taylor's "Making Money From Your Photography" tutorial. As a young photographer, I learned a ton from this three-hour tutorial and believe that any photographer, regardless of age or experience, could learn something new. 

A few weeks ago, I shared the second episode of the video series "Off the Beaten Track," where photographer Chris Schmid visited the land of the Maasai people, photographing their culture and the wild animals of the National Reserve in Kenya. Chris recently released the third episode where he explores a much cooler climate. Svalbard is one of the most remote places in the Northern Hemisphere. This episode is beautifully shot with the DJI Inspire 1 and DJI Zenmuse X5, giving you a new look into the quickly melting ice and the polar bears who live there.  

Everyone loves Ikea. Don't try to fight it; you know you do! They have everything you could possibly need for your home and also those Swedish Meatballs. But have you ever thought of all the things you can buy to create DIY softboxes and beauty dishes? Check out this video for six tips to help save money (and give you a valid excuse to shop at Ikea).

Although the summer heat is still lingering, fall is swiftly approaching. It's that time again: time to hit the books and head back to school. Books are expensive, but we have some exciting news: The New York Institute of Photography is giving three lucky winners their choice of a free photography course! There are just three easy steps to enter for your chance to win. 

Earlier this week, we asked the community to submit their wedding photographs to be critiqued by Lee and Patrick.  Thank you everyone for all for posting your pictures! Check out the images we've selected.

Philadelphia based Director of Photography Mitch Martinez thought the world needed access to more 4K footage for free. So, he collected clips he shot from all over the United States and created a catalog with over 35 different categories of footage on his website just for that. An even cooler aspect of this collection: it's free for commercial use as well. 

What do you keep in your camera bag that helps you stay inspired and creative? The team over at Format and ONA Bags want to know. They also want to give you $6,000 worth of prizes. Interested? It's really simple to enter the #myOnHand Instagram Contest. 

Since fall is the biggest and busiest Wedding Season for most photographers, we want to see your best wedding images for our next episode of Critique the Community. Lee and Patrick will select 20 images to critique; upload your wedding image of choice to your Fstoppers account, then paste the URL of the image in the comments below. We are anticipating a lot of images, so you have until August 25th to submit your best image. 

Hyperlapse has been around for a while now, and you can even film some pretty sweet stuff on your smartphone, but you have got to check this beautiful video out. Using a simple camera setup, Vadim Tereshchenko wants everyone to know if you want to do hyperlapse, you can!

We all know Red Bull photographers capture some amazing extreme sports photos, and Dan Vojtech is no exception. He recently photographed Extreme Pilot Martin Sonka, using a set up of 30 Fomei S600 DC strobe flashes. Watch the video for a quick behind the scenes look at how he got some amazing shots. 

New York City Photographer, Walter Chang, has returned home after a trip many photographers would be jealous of. He traveled around the world, to 60 different countries, for three years, creating his photography and film project, "We Call This Home."