The role of copyright and how it works is a mystery to many photographers. I can certainly understand why, especially with communication and digital image delivery constantly evolving. I’m not an expert on copyright but would really like to share my passion and basic understanding of the subject. When it comes time to dive deeper please refer to the ASMP …

Full-sized images have been added to the previous post so you can better compare RAW vs. JPEG. Now if you click on one of the small photos a full-sized image will open in a new browser window (except for the little detail shots, they are just sampled from the full-sized images you’ll be downloading prior). I will mention that the …

There are lots of great reader comments on the tech article pages (the camera meter / histogram video, the battle of the bulbs shootout, studio color management, etc.). A couple of times it’s been pointed out that shooting RAW files (instead of JPEG) is advantageous for everything from color balance to exposure. This is very true. So before tackling …

In episode 6 : create product photo backgrounds with no shadows and multiple colors using simple lighting equipment.
Subscribers view video on the website.

Here are the images, a little larger, with a bit more info. It’s a challenge posting large images in a blog without linking to external sources but I think I’ve come up with a solution for that in …

A sneak peek at Monday’s upcoming video: these photos were all shot using two cheap clamp lights on the exact same grey background. No colored gels were used and no color retouching has been done to the photos (these pics are straight out of the camera). So how did I come up with four completely different backgrounds? Here’s a hint: …

Today’s look around the net has a little something old and a little something new.
First, the new:
You know what’s cool? Seeing David Hobby (Strobist.com founder) in the pages of USA Today (both articles and videos) this past Tuesday. I pretty much assume everyone knows what Strobist is…if you don’t, just go to the website and you’ll figure it out quickly. …

So why do you even need color management? Well, if you do product photography you need to reproduce your clients products accurately. If you photograph people you need nice skin tones. Even if your photos have random, crazy, vibrant, whacked out color then you need color management if you want your prints to look like they do on your monitor. …

Some photographers scream, some whisper with their images. As a commercial photographer in a midsized midwestern market I sometimes have to do both.
At the moment we’re working with a local jeweler to create some new images for their website. The company’s whole identity is about to be redone and the creative team (jeweler, agency, web designer and photo studio) is …

Today’s tech section is a chance to tie up some loose ends started over the last month or so. A little stick-in-a-can (from the DIY lighting videos) and a little bulb shootout follow up are on tap.
I’ve been promising stick-in-a-can and screen info and here it is:

The screens are made using 1″x2″ lumber. These are the kind of “L” brackets …

Can you always trust your camera’s light meter? The answer is all in the histogram…
(subscribers, video may be viewed on the website):

Here are some selected books on the topic of photographic exposure.

Reference photographs used in the video

normal histogram
overexposed histogram
underexposed histogram

Canon 20D on aperture priority auto / no exposure compensation

black card
gray card
white card

black/gray/white cards