FStoppers

Every year, I make it a ritual to look back at the photographs I’ve taken—not just to see if I ended up with a set of images I’m actually happy with, but to understand what they say about me. Reviewing a year’s worth of images can reveal patterns you didn’t know were there: the subjects you’re drawn to, the way you use light, the emotions you chase. It’s an honest reflection of who you are as a photographer—and who you’re becoming.

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A do-it-all zoom sounds like freedom until you hit the usual traps: soft corners, jittery focus, and a slow aperture right when you need light. The video takes the Tamron 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 into an actual portrait shoot and treats it like a real tool, not a spec sheet.

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The photography internet loves a good "this technology is dead" narrative, and mechanical shutters have been on the chopping block for years. Every time a manufacturer announces a new mirrorless body with blazing electronic shutter speeds, someone declares that physical shutter curtains are finally obsolete. The reality is considerably more interesting. Both shutter types remain genuinely useful tools, each with scenarios where it clearly outperforms the other. Understanding when to reach for each option will make you a more capable photographer than simply leaving your camera on its default mode.

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Xtra is an innovative U.S.-registered startup founded by an experienced team dedicated to advancing imaging technology. Having established a strong foundation with products such as the Xtra Muse, Xtra Sphra360, Xtra Edge and Xtra Edge Pro.Xtra’s latest product is aimed at those needing a lightweight, highly versatile solution to film BTS and POV content on the move. They call it Atto. And looking at the specs, it’s rather impressive!

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Gear guilt is real when you’ve got a closet full of tools and a nagging feeling that the next purchase will finally fix your work. The smarter question is when equipment actually earns its keep and when it just sits there, quietly draining cash and attention.

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Photoshop 27.3.0 just dropped, and it targets the exact spots where edits bog down: local contrast tweaks, expansion quality, and cleanup around faces. If you do any real retouching work, this update changes what you can trust inside one PSD without detouring into other dialogs.

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You can get a sharp foreground and a sharp horizon without living at f/16, and without turning your hike into a tripod march. This video shows how focus stacking in Photoshop can clean up the usual weak spot in wide landscape shots, the near stuff that never lands in focus.

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You've captured what you believe is the perfect sunset. The light was extraordinary, your composition was deliberate, and the histogram looked pristine. You import the file into Lightroom or Photoshop, apply a standard S-curve to add some contrast, and suddenly your beautiful sky transforms from a smooth gradient into something resembling a topographic map. Instead of that seamless transition from warm orange to deep blue, you're looking at a series of ugly, jagged steps. What happened?

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Lightroom can make a flat landscape feel like it has a clear subject, but only if you control where the light goes. This video shows how simple masks can push attention without turning the edit into a fake-looking mess.

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Photography arguments don’t stall because people are uninformed. They stall because professionals, hobbyists, and spectators speak from different realities while using the same language. This text maps the fault lines that make most debates structurally impossible.

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I have long wavered between being a "bag 'o primes" shooter and a zoom lens shooter in my personal work. Sure, as a photojournalist and sports photographer, the choice was always easy: zooms. But for everything else, are zooms the best choice?

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If you use Lightroom Classic, masking is the line between “good enough” and an edit that looks intentional. This video focuses on the masking tools that let you target light, color, and texture without pushing the whole frame in the same direction.

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A wedding job can look like a Saturday with a camera, until someone vanishes and couples are left staring at a calendar with no plan. The video takes that nightmare scenario and turns it into a blunt checklist for how you avoid becoming the person everyone warns about.

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Getting a landscape file to feel deep and directional often comes down to what you do in editing, not what you did in the field. This matters to photographers who want edits that look intentional without turning every frame into a loud, crunchy mess.

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Fujifilm has built an empire on it. Nikon proved it works at full frame. Canon is openly entertaining the idea, with an AE-1 tribute rumored for this year. And Sony, the company that defined modern mirrorless photography, is nowhere to be found.

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Working the ICE story in Minneapolis meant relying on others—friends, colleagues, total strangers even. It meant leaning on the community and knowing how to sift good information from bad—and by the end of my time there, there was a lot of the latter.

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Are you a smartphone photographer or videographer? Then the Haida MagSafe Magnetic Filter Holder and smartphone filters might be a nice addition, giving you some extra creative options. I received a set from Haida to try out. Curious? Read about my findings in this review.

Using a smartphone as a camera is, of course, perfectly fine. The quality can be surprisingly good, especially with high-end models. Just like with real cameras, filters can also be used on smartphones. This offers extra creative possibilities.

Haida has also entered the market for smartphone photography...

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Among the many AI-powered image enhancement tools, the one we show in this article is the first to come close to a one-click solution for print preparation, with nearly no additional cleanup required.

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Sony's a7 V sounds like the obvious upgrade if you want a faster, more responsive full frame body without jumping to a flagship price. The catch is that a spec sheet won’t tell you where the real compromises hide.

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If you’re trying to earn more from photography in 2026, you’re juggling two fights at once: getting better at the work and staying visible in places like Instagram without wasting your week.

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