Another month has passed, and it is once again time to revisit the most popular stories from the last couple of weeks. Here are the top five from February 2013:

Michael Mueller: Extreme Sports, Extreme Conditions
German sports photographer Michael Mueller brought Profoto strobes with him to a snowy mountain top. An extraordinary shoot, for sure.

Silver & Light, Part VI: Death Do Us Part
Wet plates aficionado Ian Ruhter’s videos never fail to turn heads. February was no exception.

Behind the Scenes at Profoto: Pär Blixt
You guys seemed to enjoy our new article series about us who work at the Profoto office in Stockholm. Nice!

The Light Shaper: The Beauty Portrait Setup
The same goes for our second new article series The Light Shaper. Again, nice!

Light Shaping Tool of the Month: Magnum Reflector
Photographer Ab Sesay told us about how he works with the Magnum Reflector and shared some tips and tricks.

Notice anything different? Yup, our blog has finally had a facelift. Hope you like it.

But there is more than meets the eye. For instance, the categories and tags have been cleaned out. It should now be a lot easier to browse posts from a certain point of interest, such as “portrait photography” or “Pro-B3″. Also, the authors page has been updated, and the admittedly annoying “read more” button that insisted on showing up even if there was not anything more to read has been removed. Now, if there is a “read more” button, there is more to read…

We also have two new monthly article series. One is called Behind the Scenes at Profoto. This series will feature interviews with the Profoto staff. So, if you ever wondered who we are or what the thinking was behind the design of this or that piece of equipment, stay tuned. The first piece will be published tomorrow.

The other series is called The Light Shaper and follows Profoto’s in-house photographer and light shaping evangelist Andrea Belluso in his daily work. The first piece will be published within a week or two.

Light Shaping Tool of the Month and Ian Ruhter’s Silver & Light will, of course, continue as usual.

Last but not least, if you have any thoughts on the new layout or on how is can be improved, please leave a comment or drop us a line. We are still tweaking it a bit, so any feedback will be much appreciated.

Capable of firing up to 30 flashes per second while delivering flash durations down to 1/25,000 of a second, the Pro-B4 is the fastest battery generator ever made available to the public.

That said, finding a place to rent this beast can take a while longer. So, to make things easier for those of you who are interested in renting a Pro-B4, we have created a list all rentals that have the units in stock.

Click here to see the list.

For more information about the Pro-B4, we suggest checking out our Pro-B4 website or reading our interview with action-photographer Marcel Lämmerhirt.

petapixel.com

Denver-based photographer Dan Jahn is one lucky guy. He’s built himself a state-of-the-art 2800-square foot studio space in downtown Denver that’s enough to make any photographer drool.

PetaPixel takes us inside Photospace where you’ll see an impressive library of photo books, an industrial strength kitchen, 1900 square feet of shooting space, and a whole bunch of custom racks filled with Profoto gear. A couple of Magnums, beauty dishes, Pro-7a’s, D4’s, Pro-7b’s, ringflashes — he’s got it all!

Check out the post on PetaPixel for images and much more detail on the space’s features (iPad-controlled music and air conditioning, anyone?). (more…)

As 2012 comes to an end, we would like to thank all the photographers who shared their inspiring work as well as each and everyone of you who make our blog come alive by reading, commenting and sharing.

We will now take a short hiatus to return with full force on January 7. See you next year!

Best wishes,

Fredrik, Ron & Marisa

Ps. Here are 2012′s most popular blog posts:

A selection of videos and articles:

• How To Light A Muscle Car
  British car photographer Tim Wallace shares his invaluable expertise.
• The Pro-B4 in Action
  Action photographer Marcel Lämmerhirt shoots wakeboarders with the world’s fastest battery generator.
• Ari Magg: Nordic Light
  The light in Ari Magg’s images is quite unique. Read our interview with him and learn some of his secrets.
• Silver & Light, Part III
  Ian Ruhter uses Profoto strobes in a way that we have never before seen. Truly inspiring stuff.
• RFi softboxes
  The new RFi softboxes come in all sizes and shapes, and are compatible with all major flash brands.

The three most popular Light Shaping Tool of the Month pieces:

• Light Shaping Tool of the Month: ProGlobe
  Bernhard Spoettel shoots cars with ProGlobe. Click and learn why.
• Light Shaping Tool of the Month: Narrow Beam Travel Reflector
  Lothar Wieland likes to travel and favors the Narrow Beam Travel Reflector.
• Light Shaping Tool of the Month: Softbox 5′ Octa
  Edouard Janssens shot 200 people with a single softbox. So, why did he choose the Softbox 5′ Octa?

…and the webinars:

• Webinar: Studio Lighting 101
  Learn the basics of studio lighting and how to leverage the Profoto D1 Air to its fullest potential.
• Webinar: The Beauty of Hard Light
  Don’t miss this opportunity to better understand the harder side of lighting!
• Webinar: Portraiture Lighting
  Uncover the secrets behind taking striking portraits.