It’s time to shoot portraits! This one is a must see, it provides a great foundation in portrait lighting whether you use a studio strobe or a Strobist setup. In Monday’s video we’ll explore three very different styles of portrait lighting, all using just a one-light setup. It’s amazing what can be accomplished with just one light.
See you on Monday…

It’s been another busy week at prophotolife / Daylight Photo. Last weekend’s shoot was great fun, we photographed an actor / comedian as 16 different characters. Once I get client approval I’ll share the images here. This week I’ve also been putting together the video for Monday, it’s a real hands-on shooting technique video. If you are interested in portraiture I think you’ll really enjoy it.
Here’s a reminder: have you entered the At My Home Photo Contest over at DIYPhotography.net yet? I just checked out the current submissions and they …

Though we may be at different points along the journey, photographers do share a common path. The magic of photography has hooked us all. This is the third and final installment of a look at three different photographers, all at very different points along their personal journey. The first in our series was Colin Summers, UK Photojournalist. Entirely self-funded for years, Colin is now receiving widespread recognition for his gripping documentary work. Last week we met Brian J. Krummel, Fine Art Photographer. Brian shared his story of struggling to make …

In high school I had a great class called “consumer decisions”. In that class we learned all sorts of practical things including defining purchasing decisions as either “wants, needs or desires”. Do you want, need or desire a new camera? When is it time to actually buy?
I’ve probably mentioned before that it’s much easier for me to make a purchase decision for my business than for myself. A business purchase must go through pretty defined justifications, including (primarily) return on investment (in other words, making money). By looking at the …

Last week we selected files from a shoot for processing…
Now that our RAW files have been selected for processing in Phase One’s Capture One software, we will output these “selecteds” as high-resolution TIFF files. At this stage of the game we we want to create the best possible uncompressed TIFF files that we can. Here are the basic settings that our studio uses:

We output the file at the original capture size without resizing up or down at this point. While I’m a big fan of Capture One, I’m not crazy …

In this video we’ll look at how different sized light sources affect the quality of light (hard and soft light) obtained in a studio setting. Understanding these basic principles lays the groundwork for learning to control your main light source. To keep things simple and accessible we’ll be using an inexpensive (but very nice quality) lighting kit (the Genesis 200 1-Light Kit from Calumet) that was purchased complete with stand, strobe, reflector, umbrella and cords for $170 (normally priced at $270).
Subscribers view video here.

I’m experimenting with more efficient ways to …

Monday’s video is all about achieving different “qualities of light” from a very basic studio strobe setup. To keep things simple for illustration I shopped around and purchased a really basic, entry-level (but really well made) strobe lighting kit found on sale for $170 (plus free shipping). It’s the Genesis 200 1-Light Kit from Calumet.

Maybe it’s because I used to sell cameras and it just struck my funny bone, but the funniest thing I’ve read in a while is How to Frak Your Next Digital Camera Purchase. I read it twice. The guys at 1001 Noisy Cameras have a great, dry sense of humor that I can really appreciate.
Recently I was wondering how many Mac vs. Windows users there are coming to prophotolife.com. Well, lo and behold, there are traffic stats that record things like that. I grabbed a screen capture of data from …

Though we may be at different points along the journey, photographers do share a common path. The magic of photography has hooked us all. Over a three week period we will meet three photographers, all at very different points along their personal journey. The first in our series was Colin Summers, UK Photojournalist. This week, the second installment, is Fine Art Photographer, Brian J. Krummel, of Pittsburgh, PA, who I met while researching the pinhole camera video.
Transitioning from Profession to Hobby
By: Brian J. Krummel

link to Brian J. Krummel gallery

Brian Krummel …

Today’s business talk is about the photo community, a constantly growing, shifting entity that has similarities to years ago and many differences. This has been on my mind recently as I’ve watched photo labs and camera stores disappear from the local landscape.
Twenty five years ago I worked in a downtown Cincinnati camera store, a great place for a young man with dreams of becoming a professional photographer. Career connections could be made (along with a modest living) and being surrounded by all the toys of the trade made it fun …