@Ab Sesay

Each month we highlight a certain item in Profoto’s rich assortment of Light Shaping Tools. (If you want to browse through previous articles, click the Light Shaping Tool of the Month banner on the right.) This month we talk to Ab Sesay about one of his favorite tools: the Magnum Reflector.

Ab is a commercial advertising photographer based in New York. After more than ten years in the industry, Ab has shot pretty much everything, but it’s often people photography that gets his creative juices flowing.

In addition to freelancing, Ab also works as Creative Director at Profoto US. As such, he is sometimes asked to shoot with a particular Light Shaping Tool to show its unique effects and benefits. The image in this article is the result of one such assignment, and the tool in question was, of course, the Magnum Reflector.

“The assignment was simple,” says Ab. “Show what you can do with just a single Magnum. My response to that was to do a shoot where I’d try to imitate the effect of the late summer sun when it’s about two hours away from setting – low enough in the sky for the light to have some direction, but high enough to still be at full intensity.” (more…)

www.phaseone.com

Have you perhaps visited Phase One’s website recently to check out the new Capture One Pro 7 software? If you have, then you might remember these colorful promotional images, shot by London based photographer Dimitar Iliev?

We recently caught up with Dimitar and asked him to tell us a little about the shoot. Here is what he had to say:

“The main source of inspiration is Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining. I have always been fascinated by the amazing color palette he used and how he built everything in his sets with such an amazing attention to detail. In a similar fashion, I wanted to create images that are timeless and almost like paintings. Lighting was, of course, essential to create that effect.”

The shoot consisted of three main sets, which Dimitar overlapped to keep the session together and give it a wholesome and finished look. He also made an effort to keep the color transitions in the series as subtle as possible to create a calm and relaxing feeling throughout the shoot. An important part of that equation was also using the same main light for almost all of the images. (more…)

Amelie | ©Ville Paul Paasimaa

Ville Paul Paasimaa is a fashion and people photographer, based in Helsinki, Finland. Judging from the simple yet precise and powerful lighting he uses to create his images, he doesn’t like to complicate things. So to honor that, we will skip the lengthy introduction and get straight to the point.

Ville, if you met someone who didn’t know a single thing about fashion photography, what would you tell them is the most important thing that you do?

“The most important thing is to communicate. It goes beyond equipment. It goes beyond anything that you could ever learn in a book. Fortunately, I’ve been told that people like working with me – that I make them feel relaxed and confident in front of the camera. I believe that’s crucial. The person in front of the camera will always give back whatever you make him or her feel.

“It’s also important to have a trained eye. It’s like if you’re a jazz musician and you listen to a lot of jazz – this will show when you improvise. The same goes for photography. I know that there are a lot of photographers who are so keen on developing their own style that they try to ignore what other people do. But for me, it’s the other way around. I’ve been studying photographs since I was 5 years old. I remember how my mother used to bring home all sorts of French fashion magazines, and how I loved to look at the photographs in them. I believe that trained my eye, in the same sense that music can train your ear.” (more…)

Photographer Tom Munro’s Harper’s Bazaar UK photo shoot with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was featured on Fashion BTS. As described by the author, the shoot was referred to as “Pool Goddess + Valley of the Dolls.”

Tagged as using Profoto gear, these images are gorgeous, and an example of major league fashion photography. See more of Munro’s work at his site.

Sold | ©Tom Epperson

Each month we highlight a certain item in Profoto’s rich assortment of Light Shaping Tools. Last month we talked to Knut Koivisto about the work he has done with the HR Lantern. The month before that, we interviewed Alex Giacomini, who was the very first photographer to get his hands on the new Umbrella XL. This month we talk to Tom Epperson.

An American in Manila. A surfer who loves architecture. An animator turned photographer. A commercial photographer with fine art exhibitions in New York. Tom Epperson is not an easy man to pigeonhole. We do know one thing, though. He favors the Softlight Reflector. (more…)