New York-based photographer Kenneth Volpe has a Bachelor of Engineering degree and a Master of Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology. In other words, he knows what is going inside the camera. But that does not mean he cannot create art with one. On the contrary, since the formation of his own photography company Transposure in 2007, Kenneth has been known for turning his deep understanding of the physics of photography into perfectly lit images.

We recently had the privilege of seeing Volpe in action. He was doing an on-location beauty shoot in downtown New York, and we were there with our cameras to film it. “In my opinion, the mark of a good photographer is someone who can take the ambient lighting and match that with strobes so that it looks natural,” said Volpe, who used four D1 monolights, two Softbox RFi 1×3′, a Beauty Dish and several grids to achieve that effect.

Watch the video and learn how.

“If you had the chance, the opportunity, to inspire a future American president, would you?” This is the question photographer and Profoto Master, Matthew Jordan Smith is asking in his new project Future Presidents.

Future Presidents is all about inspiring young children and their parents to dream big. His goal is to travel to all 50 states, along with his Pro-7b and Magnum reflector, capturing images that answer the question, “What would you do if you were the President of the United States?” (more…)

©John Tsiavis

John Tsiavis has made a name for himself by his effortless yet evocative portraits of celebrities. But as we all you know, you need to step out of your comfort zone from time to time. When John was asked to shoot a series of images that were “unique in an interesting way” he saw an opportunity to do just that.

Surprisingly many successful photographers did not want to become photographers at first. John Tsiavis is one of them. John wanted to work with advertising. The only reason why he started to take photography seriously was that he needed a portfolio to apply for an advertising course at the university. When he was not accepted at the course, he took the interviewer’s recommendation to show his photographs to the photography faculty down the hall. And from there on one thing led to another.

Today, John is above all known as a commercial portrait photographer, creating effortless yet evocative portraits of celebrities and people of interest, such as Bono, Al Gore, Geoffrey Rush and Rachel Griffiths.

“I enjoy it because it’s a challenge,” says John. “Often with celebrities, it’s a ‘high stakes’ kind of photography. The pressure is really on. You’ve often got a very small amount of time with some huge personalities and you have to come out the end with something unique. When you get the shot you want there’s a great deal of satisfaction amongst everyone involved.”

But John also enjoys the variety that comes with a broader repertoire. For instance, he was recently asked by a client to shoot a series of images that would illustrate the various professions within the media and arts industry. The only requirement was that the images had to be vibrant and interesting in a unique way. So, John left the well-treaded path and set out to create the so-called Movement shots – a series of images that forced him to approach his art from a whole new angle. (more…)

Shooting outdoors always has its challenges, and when you’re shooting an ad for a car, the art director has locked down your camera, and you can’t move the car, you’ve got more than a few challenges to overcome.

Peter Dawson, though, is up to the task and he reveals some of his techniques in this feature on Shutterbug. When shooting on location, he relies on Profoto Pro-7b packs to give him the power he needs. “I shoot with a lot of natural light,” he says, “mixing strobes in to highlight certain parts of the car… I use Profoto white beauty dishes with grids frequently to highlight tires and anything that’s not just metal.”

Read the whole article on Shutterbug and see more of Peter Dawson’s photography at peterdawson.net.

All images and quotes in this post are used with permission and ©Shutterbug and Peter Dawson, all rights reserved; story is ©Profoto. Please respect and support photographers’ rights. Feel free to link to this blog post, but please do not replicate or repost elsewhere without written permission.

©Andrea Belluso

Andrea Belluso is an experienced photographer with more than three decades in the business. Over the years, Andrea has shot everything and everyone from supermodels and celebrities to fashion, beauty and stock photography. In addition, Andrea works as a light shaper evangelist at the Profoto headquarters in Stockholm.

Once a month Andrea shares one of his recently used setups. He is also available to answer any questions you might have. Just leave a comment or tweet us at @Profoto

Setup: The Hazy Fashion Setup

Perfect when: You want to create a motion blur effect.

But also whenever: You want to shoot editorial type fashion and beauty video.

The assignment: I’d been curious about the ProDaylight since it was first introduced. Not so much for its obvious use in video, but for its potential applications in still photography. My impression was that the fact that ProDaylight allows me to use the same Light Shaping Tools that I’m used to would open up possibilities that normal HMI film lamps cannot provide. So, when Daisy Beauty Magazine asked me to do a hazy and slightly surreal beauty shoot, I decided it was time to give it a go. (more…)