Join Karl for our interactive live shows where, twice a month, we host informative photography classes that cover everything from photography demonstrations to guest talk shows or picture critiques. Presented live, these shows offer a unique opportunity to develop new skills, recap important concepts and learn from industry leaders.

As video has become a big part of stills photography, many pro photographers have had to expand their skill set to include film and video production. Award-winning product photographer Jonathan Knowles is one such example, having filmed campaigns for Schweppes, Twinings, and Costa, to name a few. Jonathan will be joining Karl live once again, this time to talk about the importance of video and to take a closer look at some of his work and how it was achieved. Jonathan and Karl will also be taking questions from members live throughout the show.

Links: jknowles.com/home/

Learn how to improve your business portraits,  corporate headshots, and environmental portraits with this live critique show, where Karl will be reviewing images submitted by members. Offering his feedback on each of the images submitted, Karl will be highlighting the positives as well as sharing some tips and advice for improvement. These live critique shows offer a unique opportunity to get professional feedback on your own image, while also learning from the work of others. The deadline for submissions is 10th March.

Submit Your Image

If you’ve ever wondered how to create the type of imagery that has you longing for an ice-cold beer on a hot summer day, then make sure to join us for this live show! Karl will be revealing how professional product photographers create perfect condensation, and how best to light these reflective products. He’ll also be discussing background considerations, composition choice and equipment requirements for this type of photography.

Over the coming months Karl will be demonstrating multiple portrait lighting setups that will teach you how to create emotion in an image. In this live show Karl will be demonstrating how to create imagery that invokes very particular emotions in the viewer. He will be covering how to visualise and bring to life your ideas, and the tools and techniques that will help you.

Following on from our previous live show, Karl will demonstrate how to create artificial shadows in Photoshop. This has been a popular request from members, so Karl will be explaining when and why you might need to do this, as well as showing the simple post-production techniques to help you get the best results.

In this live show Karl will be announcing the brief for our fifth ‘Working to a photography brief’ challenge. In this show he will be providing members with a visual sketch, mood boards, and written description. This task will give members an opportunity to practise the real-world skills of interpreting and executing a photography brief. The deadline for submissions is 16th June. These will be reviewed in a follow-up live show on 24th June 2021.

Karl and Ashleigh will be sitting down to tackle the hot topic of the future of cameras and photography. They’ll be looking at recent technological advancements, weighing in on the mirrorless vs DSLR debate, discussing what impact mirrorless technology is having on the market, and speculating about what the world of photography may look like in the future. This will be an interesting discussion and we look forward to hearing what our members have to think too.

Submit your images of bottles or beverages for this live photo critique show, where Karl will be reviewing images submitted by members. This show will focus on this niche area of product photography — one that requires careful control of light and precise attention to detail. Having shot these types of images for numerous clients, Karl will be sharing his experience with our members during this critique show, where he will be giving his feedback on each of the images sent in. In addition to highlighting the strengths of each image, Karl will also be offering his advice for improvement and showing simple Photoshop tricks to help strengthen the image. The deadline for submissions is 26th May.

Over the past few months, Karl has demonstrated a few different creative portrait lighting setups, and in this live show he will once again be demonstrating how to create imagery that invokes very particular emotions in the viewer. He will be covering how to visualise and bring to life your ideas, and the tools and techniques that will help you.

In this live show, Karl will be reviewing the images submitted for our fifth 'Working to a brief' challenge. For these challenges, members are tasked with executing a specific brief, but with the bonus of receiving professional feedback and advice on their images. 

This live show will focus on the technique of tilt-shift photography as Karl demonstrates how to shoot an arrangement of products using this technique. During the show, Karl will address what tilt-shift photography is, when to use it, and how this technique can be used to achieve great depth of field. Working to create a final image of an arrangement of tools, Karl will also be explaining how to light reflective products, the styling for the shot and how tilt-shift can be used as an alternative to focus stacking.

Learn how to take mouthwatering images of burgers in this live show, where Karl will be revealing the secrets behind creating the perfect burger photo. Creating a punchy advertising-style image, this live show will cover what backgrounds to use for food photography, what props to include, how to style food, and what lighting to use to best show the product. As usual, members will be able to follow along and ask questions live throughout the show.

An item many of us use on a day-to-day basis, laptops are carefully designed, visually aesthetic products. In this live show, Karl will be showing you how to highlight the most important elements of products like this through a combination of deliberate composition choices and careful lighting techniques. As usual, he will also be answering questions from members throughout the show.

From smartphones to speakers, Karl will be taking a closer look at electronics for this live photo critique show. Members will have the opportunity to send in their images of electronic products for Karl to review. Throughout the show Karl will highlight what works in each of the images and share his advice for improving on any weaknesses. These highly popular live shows provide a valuable opportunity to receive professional feedback on your work, as well as learn from fellow members. As usual, Karl will also be answering any questions you may have throughout the show. The deadline for submissions is 11th August.

Join us live to learn how to capture stunning beauty photography images. Throughout this show, Karl will be demonstrating beauty photography lighting setups and how to create hard light, which is often used for this type of photography. He'll also be explaining the makeup and posing considerations as he works with his model in the studio, sharing various tips and professional techniques to help you get the best results.

In this live show Karl will be announcing the brief for our sixth ‘Working to a photography brief’ challenge. In this show he will be providing members with a visual sketch, mood boards, and written description. This task will give members an opportunity to practise the real-world skills of interpreting and executing a photography brief. The deadline for submissions is 20th October. These will be reviewed in a follow-up live show on 28th October 2021.

Bottles are complex products to photograph, and in this live show Karl will be shooting perhaps one of the most difficult of them all — a bottle of Grand Marnier liqueur. In this live show Karl will be showing how he creates gradient lighting to create a sense of elegance suitable for these products and how he controls this gradient lighting to achieve the distinctive lighting often seen on their intricately shaped products. This is bound to be an informative live show that builds on the technique of gradient lighting, showing exactly why this powerful technique is an important one for any photographer to master.

Learn how to create stand-out images of cosmetic products in this live show, where Karl will be photographing a bottle of perfume ‘floating’ above rippled water. This show will demonstrate how to suspend objects, light and photograph cosmetic products, how to photograph water, and how you can apply these techniques to create your own creative product images. A deceptively simple concept, this is sure to be an information-packed show that you won’t want to miss!

In this live show, Karl will be reviewing the images submitted for our sixth 'Working to a brief' challenge. For these challenges, members are tasked with executing a specific brief, but with the bonus of professional feedback and advice on their images. 

We’ve had a lot of requests from members to show how to photograph products using basic modifiers and minimal equipment… So for this live show, Karl will demonstrate an achievable speedlite product shoot. Shooting a creative image of paintbrushes with dripping paint, Karl will explain how to use speedlites for product photography, control light, and achieve fast flash duration to freeze motion.

After the popularity of our previous still life photography live show, Karl will once again be sharing some simple yet creative still life photography ideas that members can easily try themselves. This show will cover the lighting and styling of the shot and members will be able to follow along and ask their questions live throughout the shoot.

For this live show members will have an opportunity to submit their cosmetic photographs for professional feedback from Karl. Throughout this show, Karl will be offering his opinion and advice for each of the images, highlighting what works, what doesn’t and simple tips to help improve any image. The deadline for submissions is 24th November.

Photographing white products on a white background can be a difficult task, and it’s something we’ve received many questions about. In this live show Karl will demonstrate how to overcome some of the most common challenges, including achieving the correct white levels and ensuring there is separation between the subject and the background. Showing a start-to-finish shoot, Karl will be explaining the most important considerations for this type of photography as he also answers questions from members.

Acclaimed portrait photographer Laura Stevens will be joining Karl live in the studio for an informative live talk show. Laura, who is a British photographer based in Paris, has worked for global clients such Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Wired. Her work has featured in multiple galleries internationally and she has won numerous awards over the years. Join Karl and Laura live to ask your questions and learn first-hand from Laura.

www.laurastevens.co.uk/

*Please note schedules may be subject to change.