Articles from Michael B. Stuart

As some of you may or may not know, there has been a weekly photo theme running here on Fstoppers called the weeklyFstop. It is very easy to join in and the themes change from week to week so everyone's strengths and weaknesses get a turn. This week the theme is "favorite" which should cater well to all genres and skill sets. The real beauty is that you don't need a large following to join in. A number of our featured photographers haven't even passed 100 followers. This fact, one might argue, makes our list one of the most unique around. We'd love to have you join in and show us your favorite thing to capture. 

Shooting landscape photography is not only fun but very therapeutic. The act of planning and capturing, the peace of the surrounding scenery, and the thrill of success all help your overall well-being in a way that makes photography a very effective way to uplift your spirits. For those of us that can't get out to some of these locations, looking at beautiful photos of them is also very soothing. I hope this week's list can relieve some stress for you. And be sure to check out next week's theme because I'm positive you'll love it.

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with a photographer I follow who shared his wonderful story with me about how he got where he is today. A lot of us have been told we take great photos somewhere along the way and dreamed of making a living off simply taking good photos. This doesn't really happen in the real world since you actually need a niche of some sort. If you happen to live by some of the most amazing houses in the world, luxury real estate is one of those niches that can make the dream a reality.

There is something magical about witnessing a sunrise and watching the land warm as the day begins. Unless of course, you are just still up from the night before. Then the sunrise has a whole different feeling. Luckily all of the great shots submitted this week seemed planned. 

Warmth can be a lot more than just a temperature. A face with a smile can show warmth. The orange glow of a candle flame or from a fireplace are great examples. Sometimes this look can also be achieved with a radial filter and sliding the white balance towards the warmer side of the spectrum. When done correctly, a photo featuring warmth can tap into a very predictable emotion and feeling of comfort. Check out how our readers fared this week on our top ten list.

For this week's list of "frozen," I would recommend gloves or mittens and possibly a nice cup of hot chocolate. Just looking at some of these frigid shots has a tenancy to induce shivering. Wait until you see the winner, I would venture to say the shot was 100 percent meant to land on our list.

We asked for snow and we sure got it. I spent the week enjoying the weather with my family. We alternated between outside time in the yard throwing snowballs, building forts, and warming up by the fireplace with hot chocolate. I was too busy having fun to get any photos, but luckily for all of us, our readers were not. This week's list might make you a bit cold so I suggest grabbing a blanket.

The theme "toys" this week on the WeeklyFstop was a playful one. You may not think of it when you grab your camera, but adding a toy to a shot is a quick easy way to practice camera technique and composition. It is also a fun way to engage your kids and encourage them to help set up some scenes to photograph. Our readers put together another brilliant showing you have to check out.

This week's theme "bokeh" had me very excited. After loving all the dreamy photos I'd see online with a sharp foreground and a blurry background, I finally learned and mastered the art of achieving maximum bokeh. The real trick seems to be all about the point of view and distance from your subject. Our readers appeared to be well versed in the art of bokeh hunting and they managed to wrangle up another awesome list I hope you'll enjoy.

This week's theme "thankful" was full of great submissions. It also means we are into the tenth week of the weeklyFstop theme! We have seen some very cool photos shared and put together nine completely original top 10 lists found nowhere else on the web. I'd say that is pretty awesome. We are doing it people. For that, and for you, I am thankful.

Motorola has really done something different with their Moto Mod offerings. They have put out an entire line of products that are compatible with multiple Moto phones via a sturdy magnetic docking system. The idea is a genius one in that it finally does not have to live within the tight space requirements of today's wafer-thin phones. Taking the Moto 360 Camera Mod for a spin did not disappoint.

Happy Thanksgiving week to all of our United States based readers. This week's list is full of excitement due to the ever popular "action" theme. The submissions covered a wide range of movement and activities that we may all need to partake in after today's feast. Hope you like the list and we'd love to have you join in.

The WeeklyFstop depends not only on its loyal readers and participants, it relies on light. Light determines what we see and how we see it. Our photos depend on us controlling the camera so the light coming through the lens exposes correctly. This week's list of photographers submitted some superb examples of photos featuring light. 

This week's theme called for "music" and the results were great as usual. There is a lot of diversity on all of our WeeklyFstop lists and this one is no exception. One featured photographer almost had to be disqualified after turning in multiple entries. Luckily they both rocked and the show went on! 

The theme this week called for "monochrome" photos and the people delivered. There a number of eye-catching photos but the selections stood out from the crowd and lacked color in a good way. Be sure to check out the new bonus group selected from the Fstoppers community.

When it comes to composing a photograph, there is a natural tendency to pay attention to the subject ignoring the distractions. This is just a matter of liking your own art and viewing it in an idealistic way. Sometimes until you show your photos to an audience, the distractions are invisible to you. This is where simplicity can help. 

This week's theme of "yours" was less obvious than any of our previous prompts. That did not seem to dissuade any of the participants from submitting great shots. Of the four lists put together so far, this one might be the favorite. I'm also excited about the new theme this week, so be sure to check it out and join in.

This was another awesome showing for our new weekly photo theme with a number of excellent photos submitted. Instagram does such a good job with their simple interface and chronological search results the stand out shot almost jump off the grid. It is great to see so many people participating. I hope you all love the results for the "color" theme as much as I enjoyed putting the list together.

Welcome back to the weekly Fstoppers photo theme. Remember anyone can join in for a chance to be featured. After having a rather specific theme week one with “Leading Lines,” we came back with a less literal prompt of “Bold” for week two. This opened up the spectrum of entries and I think you will like the results. A bold photo can be achieved a number of ways using color, sharpness, light, or just the subject and placement in the shot. Let's see how these 10 photographers interpreted bold.

Well, we did it. We have successfully started the weekly Fstoppers photo theme. It was not only great to see so many submissions, but the response from people hearing about the idea has been excellent. There are so many photographers out there looking to explore new techniques and grow their photography skills we are excited to see all the different ways to portray a theme prompt. Let us take a look at how the entries for leading lines went. Also, make sure you check out the new theme revealed at the bottom of this article.

When what seemed like half the photographers in the United States posted a photo to the #SolarEclipse2017 hashtag, it gave me an idea. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook all allow for fairly organic public searching of hashtags and a lot of our Fstoppers readers are active on one, if not all of these sites. Our article featuring an Instagram hashtag guide was one of the most popular of the year. Now on a regular basis, Fstoppers readers have a chance to get their work featured based on what is produced instead of likes on a photo, or how many followers they might have. Let's do this.

Los Angeles photography studio Kremer Johnson has come up with a unique idea for their latest personal project. The series features such impressive portraits you will immediately think you should know the subject. The thing is you don't; the photos are just that well done. All the models are simply people who responded to a Craigslist ad titled "Characters Wanted," agreeing to be compensated $20/hour for their time. I reached out to Neil to find out more about this brilliant idea.

In case you aren't tired of looking at photos from Monday's incredible solar eclipse, I've put together another list. This time I tried to some find photos that maybe everyone hasn't already seen. The eclipse was not only a spectacular natural event with worldwide attention, it was also one of the most covered events via the photo community itself. Browsing the popular hashtags for the solar eclipse produced results from professionals, amateurs, hobbyists, families, and a ton of everyday people armed with nothing more than a capable cell phone excited to share what they had witnessed.

If there is one type of photograph that you could call universally appreciated, I would say a properly executed cityscape ranks right up there at the top. While New York City often comes to mind when you think of skyscrapers and iconic views, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates now makes a very strong case for being the most amazing city to photograph in the world. Of all the photos coming out of Dubai on a regular basis, I'd say Daniel Cheong's are hands down the best of the best. He is ready to share his skills in an upcoming class on September 8 put on by 500px called "Shooting and Stitching Vertical Panoramas." Best of all, the class is free for 500px premium members.

When I first decided to try converting some of my photos to black and white, it seemed very hard to get good results. I would often rely on using the desaturate adjustment in Adobe Photoshop that I learned in high school 20 years ago. This makes for some very flat and gray looking images. From there I found better results by using tools like Photoshop actions and Nik Silver Efex. This method still lacks control a bit, and in my opinion anytime you have to leave Adobe Lightroom, your workflow speed is taking a hit. Once I learned to emulate the monochrome photos I was attracted to and impressed by, my work started getting better.

If you didn't realize there was a massive solar eclipse yesterday across the United States, then you probably didn't spend much time on social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and for all I know maybe Snapchat were buzzing about the eclipse. Photos mainly looked like a blurry tipped crescent moon on a black sky, or a photo from the inside of a viewing contraption. Some people were a bit more prepared though. Much more prepared in fact. Check out these top 10 captures from today's solar eclipse.

Leave it to a person skilled at both magic and balloon twisting to come up with an illusion so crazy it is hard to accept. This is even after testing the lines to be perfectly straight with a ruler, a level, and Adobe Photoshop about ten times. The human mind is an interesting thing. The first thing I thought of was the repetitive task of straightening horizon lines in photos and how often they don't look quite right. Now I think it is time to stop trying since my eyes and mind can be this badly fooled.

Last Friday was one for the record books. My son had his last travel soccer game for the team I assistant coach for at Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY. The team played great and since it was our final game, we invited all the parents out on the field for a game against the kids after. Everyone there had a blast. As we began to run out of daylight I could see one heck of a sunset coming together. We actually had some of our gear with us since my wife wanted to grab a team photo. Knowing I have been itching to get out and shoot, she immediately told me to take her camera and go. Next time she may think twice.

Wedding photography is not what it used to be. I don't mean this in a good way or a bad way, it just seems like with any advancement in technology comes a new challenge. Many couples today want both still photos and video of their wedding. This makes sense since it is often the biggest day of their life. Does that mean we now have videographers to deal with in our shots? No, it's a two-way street. We, as professionals, both have to work together to deliver the best possible product to the lucky couple. Saying someone got in the way means you didn't try hard enough.

Last year Team Stuart was faced with a big storage problem. Our 9-plus terabytes of photos were a few weddings away from out growing their 10 terabytes of storage. This meant we needed to shell out a bunch of money for more hard drives to even think about storing more photos. Money that I didn't have, especially considering we'd need a whole new NAS setup. That is when I made the bold decision to forgo on-site storage and move to the cloud. In retrospect, it may have been a big waste of time.

More and more people fall in love with photography everyday. This will only increase the more approachable and affordable it becomes. There seems to be some people who think that because of this photography is somehow dead. Yeah, that really makes a ton of sense. Maybe the people saying there is no way to succeed in today's saturated market, are really just the same naysayers that have been telling musicians, athletes, entertainers, scientists, or charities for years that it can't be done. Anything can be done with enough determination. And luckily for us, determination is free.

Composites are a funny subject to people. Lead with it, and they are impressed. Tell them after and they just might feel duped. I found this out the hard way when I took a bunch of boring fireworks photos and added them to a night shot of the glorious Niagara Falls. Let's just say a major upgrade to the background.

Having a creative mind is a wonderful gift. Whatever your discipline, you love the thrill of making new things out of nothing. Sometimes when the creativity slows it can land you in a rut. When this happens to me, I like to grab the camera, and head out in the backyard for some dewy grass exploration.

The camera technology in today's phones is one of the most competitive areas of modern electronics. Every big phone release leads with the specs of the camera. This includes megapixels, low light capabilities, auto focus, and of course HD video. While the capability to capture higher quality imagery has arrived, the included storage on the phones has essentially stayed in the 16GB to 32GB range. Since that storage has to share with the phone's operating system and all the apps, it is good to have all your photos on a constant conveyor belt to the cloud.

Being young is something I hope to never let go of. There is a sense of invincibility that can't be taught or explained. You just have to live it. Sometimes a photograph can take you to a point in time, or evoke feelings beyond what your eyes are seeing. Alex Currie is a photographer and director currently living in Los Angeles, California, who knows how to tell a story with a single frame.