Commercial Photography

Car photography can be done in many different ways using different techniques. Some people like shooting it with gelled strobes, some like to lightpaint it or just shoot with available light. There is no one right way to do it.

I have been following the amazing work of boudoir photographer Christa Meola for a couple of years now. Just a quick look at her portfolio and you will agree that her boudoir work is some of the best out there. Recently she posted a lighting diagram for a two light setup she has been using. Christa happens to use a nude model for the lighting setup so heads up.  

Patric Bergkvist is making a strong case as one of the better Swedish liquid photographers with his fantastic handle on the ideal lighting in very humble shooting spaces. We featured his exploding coffee and milk photo tutorial in early February and now he is back showing how to make a perfect shot of Whiskey. Photo that is.  

Early in February of 2013, Rovio announced a new side project called "Angry Birds Superstars," which juxtaposed athletes with the hugely popular Angry Birds imagery. Though there likely are more on the way, Rovio has started the project with NHL Stanley Cup champion Anže Kopitar and NBA All-Star Veteran Andrew Bynum, both photographed by Jere Hietala. The point? Because it’s fun and awesome.

I recently came across the work of Miller Mobley on Twitter on a random chance of browsing through a few recent tweets. I was linked directly to his blogwhich had a post about his recent shoot with Quentin Tarantino and Jamie Foxx. What I loved, more than his impeccable results, was how he was quite giving in regards to the details of the shoot.  

During this last superbowl there were some pretty amazing commercials, but one stood out to me. The new live action, God of War Ascension trailer. Being a huge fan of the God of War series I was happy to see the character, 'Kratos', brought to life.

The Verge and Gizmodo have featured a video found on Youtube that shows Adobe's CEO, Shantanu Narayen, masterfully avoiding answering a very direct question: "How can Adobe justify selling the Creative Suite for $1400 more in Australia than in the United States?" Rather than talking about the pricing of the Creative Suite, Narayen continually deflects to the Creative Cloud.  

Skreened is an eCommerce company that specializes in on-demand screen printing. Shirts are their biggest sellers. Since each shirt design is unique, they needed a library of images with models in blank tees so they could overlay the latest designs in post. When they approached me to shoot for them, their main request was that these portraits be fun and energetic. 

Whether you watched the Super Bowl or not, it's very possible you saw the now world famous PSY perform an adapted version of "Gangnam Style" for a pistachio commercial. I have to admit, when I first saw the commercial, I was taken off guard by the lack of connection. Still, I've thought about pistachios since, so I guess the marketing campaign worked.  

For reasons unknown, I receive many calls to photograph pseudo reality TV shows more than almost anything other than athletic campaigns. Like sports, I try not to watch the shows I photograph. It is not out of disrespect for what the celebs and athletes are doing, but rather I want to remain distant from the connotations put upon them from commentators or editors.

Many of you readers are like me in that you don't have your own photography studio. While it's sometimes inconvenient, I have learned to make do without one. This diagram will show you how to get a polished looking product shot in a boring office hallway.  

Now that the Superbowl is behind us we can all start talking about the best commercials we saw. All over social media it seems the one that got the big win for the night was the excellent commercial from Dodge truck with photos of farmers. Great commercial indeed... but did you know that it was inspired by an idea posted to YouTube back in 2011 by Farms.com. I have shared them both below.

For sports photographers everywhere, tonight is the night that you someday hope to be working. Super Bowl Sunday has basically became a national holiday for Americans. Whether you’re watching for the commercials, or the game, photographers everywhere want to see that lineup of camera bodies and lenses on the sidelines. 

Our good friend Dave Lehl is at it again and this time he's moved out of the snow and into the skate park. To add a bit of flare to the standard skateboarding shot Dave taped sparklers to the bottom of the board and used smoke bombs to set the mood. Check out the full post to a link to the high res finished shots.  

Every Week Benjamin Von Wong releases new behind the scenes content for your viewing pleasure. This week Ben takes off for Paris and tackles the challenge of shooting a piece of fine art called the “WOM dog” by Cyril Anguelidis. Ben and his talented fire-wielding partner-in-crime,  Andrey DAS, took their time in pre-production.

Whenever I talk to another photographer the topic of “personal work” always comes up. Usually in the casual form of, “hey, have you shot any personal work lately?” This standard artistic rendition of the workplace, “how’s the weather” is usually brushed off and more enjoyable conversations quickly replace it.

In my opinion, nothing is sexier than a glossy black surface. And you don't even need a black backdrop sweep to achieve it.

When I first got into portrait photography, I saw his work and I wanted to be Zim Killgore. Years later, I still have inspiration folders that are filled with his stuff. I've always been interested in his work because its nothing like anything I've ever seen before. Its a fresh take on portrait photography, that encourages you to just sit down and stare at it.

In this fun behind the scenes video, we get to see San Diego-based production company SaintWest staging video shots for the "Find Your Moment" campaign with Torrey Pines golf course. Get an inside look on how the crew captures the golf experience in a cinematic way, but also improvises to make a simulated golf hole for a unique POV shot.

A few weeks ago Eric Pare released the 24x360 project which included 24 cameras taking a long exposure picture of a single subject. It's difficult to explain but once you see it you will understand. Eric was kind enough to write up an article just for us on how these incredible video clips were made. 

Although there are thousands Guinness Wold Records and some are broken every day, it's still inspiring to see large numbers of people come together with a common goal. Recently, both GoPro and Devin Graham filmed different world records.

Photography is an enormous, multifaceted industry that ranges from portrait and product to macro and landscape. As photographers, we owe it to ourselves to learn as much as we can about each specific genre of our trade. Even if you only shoot weddings or cars, it’s important to learn and practice new techniques, which will allow you to hone your skills and can keep you out of creative ruts.

I’m driving a beautiful triple-black Aston Martin DB9 V12 down a florida highway. Its nose so long that the sun striking it practically blinds me. AC/DC is blasting on the radio and the car’s 12 cylinders roar at the slightest touch to the throttle.

I started a new project recently creating portraits on 11x14 film.  I have had an 11x14 back for my Deardorff for several years, but I have never shot much in that format.  I decided to try a couple sheets in hopes of kick starting a new project.  

I have been following Luke Schneider's work for quite some time and it just keeps getting better and better. He has a nack for fashion photography and it clearly shows. I decided to find out a bit about him and what his goals are for the future and current project. He is still in college so he has quite a bit of time ahead of him to achieve his goals.

In this corporate headshot shoot by The Slanted Lens, Jay P Morgan plays around with a 10, 20 and 30 degree grid to show us how each one will give a drastically different look. Throughout the entire shoot he is constantly feathering the light. If you've ever shot on the streets of New York then you'll understand why he has to keep his set up very mobile.

When I watched this video this morning from London-based film production company Make Productions my mind was blown, my jaw dropped and I just kept thinking about all the detailed work that went into creating such an amazing parallax sequence - all of which was executed perfectly.

I'm a big fan of the mission and idea behind websites like Kickstarter. I appreciate creating a community of people from all over the world who help each other pursue their dreams. On Indieagogo, a site similar to Kickstarter, I came across this cool project on photographer, Fred Lyons.  After spending 7 decades behind the camera, Lyon is still going strong at 88 years old.

If you suffer from self-diagnosed A.D.D like most creative professionals, then you need to tune into this free workshop with Jared Platt. From the moment you book the job to the final delivery of the images, Jared will show you efficient techniques that will help improve your workflow. This 3-day workshop starts tomorrow December 6th - December 8th at 9AM.

Since it's launch in 1964 the Pirelli calendar is one of the most desired items of the new year. Each year a celebrated photographer is hired to shoot the world's most beautiful bodies stripped naked in some of the world's most gorgeous locations.

Air New Zealand has been known for their original, themed and very well made safety videos. Just recently they released their newest safety video featuring a plane full of Tolkien fans called, 'An Unexpected Briefing'. Air New Zealand partnered up with the people over at Weta Workshop to create the amusing safety briefing.

Earlier this year Stoli rolled out their most recent advertising campaign that revolved around three 'original' nights with their product. The first night, a lavish paint party (Dayglow anyone?). Second night, a club party in a power plant in West Berlin. The third, in an abandoned amusement park in East Berlin.

I teamed up with Luquire George Andrews, an ad agency in Charlotte, NC, to create four images for a corporate brochure for Lincoln Harris, a commercial real estate company with properties in 26 states.  LGA wanted to feature b/w photographs of executives in Lincoln Harris' properties. 

A couple of nights ago a close friend of mine, Jesse, gushed over Justin Bieber's new music video, 'Beauty and A Beat'. How it was entirely shot with the new Olympus TG-1 (a point-and-shoot camera) and how I should write a post about it for the site. So, taking his lead I went ahead and did some research on Justin's new music video.