©Nick Fancher
Here’s something we don’t see very often. When was the last time you saw two different types of water frozen in a photograph? Not frozen because of temperature, but frozen by incredibly fast flash duration?
Our friends at Fstoppers are at it again. They’ve published a post by Nick Fancher detailing his test drive of the Profoto Pro-B4. Francher froze individual drops and captured streaks with a longer shutter speed. (more…)
©Carol Weinberg
Peter Kolonia has just published an impressive how-to piece on PopPhoto.com featuring the photography of portrait shooter Carol Weinberg. Wanting to shoot something special for her new site, Weinberg wound up with a dramatic portrait featuring halo lighting.
A Profoto Pro Head was utilized from behind to create the halo effect. The main light was provided by a Profoto Softbox RFi 5′ Octa. A Profoto Pro-7A pack powered both lights.
The story covers how the halo shot came about, and what Weinberg had to deal with to make it work. Kolonia covers other tips on beauty lighting by Weinberg, and provides the most helpful, not to mention coolest lighting diagram (by Kris Holland at Mafic Studios) we’ve seen.
Don’t miss the full article, and don’t forget to check out more of Weinberg’s work at her site.
All images and quotes in this post are used with permission and ©Carol Weinberg, 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.
©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…)
Photographer Morgan Moller has written a great blog post in which he gives a detailed account of a recent shoot with musician and renaissance man Marques Toliver. Morgan begins from the very beginning, explaining how the shoot came to be and how he prepared, and goes on to describe how he utilized the Pro-7b and the Beauty Dish to create a number of portrait set ups.
“It was the first time using Profoto gear, but I know now why I’ll rent them in the future,” concludes Morgan.
Recommended read if you are curious about the Beauty Dish or just into portrait photography in general.
©Andrea Belluso
Profoto is more than a brand and a line of products. It is also the place where some us work and spend our weekdays. Have you ever wondered who we are or what the thinking was behind the design of this or that piece of equipment? Then join us behind the scenes at Profoto!
The name Jan Dufgran might sound familiar. Jan is namely the son of Conny Dufgran, one of the two founders of Profoto. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Jan has worked at Profoto for quite some time. In fact, Jan started working at Profoto as a child in the early 1970s, helping his father curl metal springs for the very first ProHeads!
“The photography business exploded in the 1960s,” says Jan. “One of the main reasons for this was that the ad agencies now wanted to use photographs rather than illustrations. At the same time, color film was introduced. This growing interest in commercial photography in combination with the new color film, which required a huge amount of light to expose properly, gave rise to the demand for high-quality studio strobes. Needless to say, Profoto, which at the time was a small yet highly inventive company, benefited from this.”
Jan has fond memories of this eventful time. The industry thrived, and the rising status of the professional photographer attracted a lot of “colorful characters” as he eloquently puts it. Many of these found their way to Profoto. And many stayed over the years to come.
“I remember one time, I think it was in the late 1980s, when a photographer came to me with an old Pro-1 generator that he had been using for decades. I examined it and explained to him that it was a very old generator and that he should consider replacing it. And he just broke down! I gently asked him if he wasn’t used to replacing his equipment, to which he replied: ‘Of course! I’ve changed camera several times. I’ve changed car. I’ve changed apartment. I’ve even changed wife! But I’ve always had the same flash generator…’”