This is probably my favorite video yet, a dramatic tabletop shot created using just one light and a handful of mirrors and silver cards. I remember the first time I used mirrors, that was years ago and they are still my favorite tabletop light modifier.
The original series of images may be viewed in this gallery, they are darker and more dramatic than they appear in the video. YouTube has it’s advantages and disadvantages.

The strobe lighting used was, once again, Calumet Photographic’s Genesis 200 1-Light Kit. I’ve certainly gotten my …

Been bitten by the film bug? Calumet has bundled together the Holga 120N Camera with Five Rolls of Ilford HP5 Film for a quick start

There’s plenty of inspirational photography on the internet. Though I’m a commercial photographer, artistic images (rather than commercial images) usually catch my eye. But every once in awhile a collection of commercial photographs may make me stop, think, and aspire to reach a higher level. Such was the case when I first viewed Philip Nealey’s flawless retouching portfolio. Philip is a professional photographer and digital imaging …

Today “the look” in advertising and editorial work is often a clean white background. At Daylight Photo we’ve set up a semi-permanent large white sweep for just these jobs. White seamless paper was too temporary a solution and a permanent cyc wall (cyclorama) would be too costly for what we needed. We ended up going with a 10 foot wide roll of discounted vinyl flooring that we’ve flipped upside down and painted white. It’s proven cost-effective and durable.

As for lighting, well, this isn’t one of those cases where we …

“Can you talk about pricing vs. what the market will bear? For example in the “Pricing Photography” book you link to , they insist that you charge at least your daily overhead, well that’s fine, but will the client be willing to pay for that? This is especially relevant to a starting business like myself. More established photogs have higher buying power, so to speak.” – Mike C.

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This question cuts right to the chase: how can I charge enough to survive while growing a business? If I …

This guest post is written by Andrew Gibson, still in the early stages of his career, yet an accomplished photographer and writer and the author of the Magical Places Fine Art Online Photography Magazine. A number of prophotolife readers have requested more information about photographers’ career paths, and Andrew discusses his pursuits and career with us here, from his first publication to future goals to what he feels are the keys to professional success. His blog also has a number of interviews with successful photographers posted, where they share their …

This video shows the process of thinking like a studio photographer working with environmental product photography. We’ve covered many techniques in previous videos (all are in the video library) but haven’t really had a “review” video where the techniques get tied together. That’s what we’ll be doing here, throwing in something new and referring to something old. If you have any questions on the equipment referred to in this video you can find equipment links here.

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The webgallery of still images from the shoot may be viewed …

Grind by Kevin Barnett

It wasn’t an easy decision but the votes are in and we have the winners in DIYPhotography.net’s At My Home photo contest! Three runners-up and one grand prize winner will be receiving their copy of the beautiful coffee table book “America at Home”. Even better, their contest winning photos will be the actual cover photo of their respective copies (and if you order a copy of the book, you can make your own photo the cover, also). You can view all of the top photos with comments …

I look at many of the videos here on prophotolife as building blocks. What do you do with building blocks? Well, once you’ve collected enough of them it’s time to build something. That’s what this video is all about, connecting the dots on some prior lessons and combining them to create a product photo in an environment. There’s a little something new, plus something borrowed from episode 15, plus the lessons of episode 6 and the return of our good friends the stick-in-a-cans and clamp light from episode 1. It …

There’s been lots of news going on this past week, let’s take a look.
First, I’d like to say thanks for joining the new prophotolife discussion forum. Not even a week old, there’s been a good deal of activity and I’ve learned about many new (to me) photo sites through this thread of reader website favorites. The forum will also be a real help with some of the email questions I receive. There are certain topics, like ” what’s the best LCD monitor to buy?” that I honestly don’t know …

This video is another response to a reader question: how do I make a portfolio? This was planned as a quick video but that just didn’t do the topic justice. It was better to roll the camera just a bit longer, I thought, and here’s the result.

While the internet is primarily used for initial review of a portfolio, most commercial clients (or photographers hiring assistants) also want to see a print “book”. It’s an effective way to view a photographer’s attention to detail and presentation. I show a few …