Over the years I’ve built up quite a collection of photography books and as many of you have asked what my favorites are, I thought I’d put together a list of my favorite inspirational and educational photography books.
Photography Blog: Knowledge & Inspiration For Photographers
Lighting Modifiers: Softboxes
Softboxes are popular modifiers that are well suited to many genres of photography. Here I explain the advantages, disadvantages and effects of softboxes as well as offer some alternatives.
How to set up a small photography studio
Shooting in a small studio can be challenging, but it isn’t impossible. There are a number of things you can do to make working in limited space easier and more effective, which is what I recently showed when I set up a small studio for a friend’s business.
Lighting modifiers: The beauty dish
The beauty dish is often a popular lighting modifier among fashion and beauty photographers because of its versatility and unique light. In my next live show I’ll show you exactly what you can achieve with it and demonstrate how you can modify it even further.
Photographing Products with LEDs & display screens
From iPhones to kettles, self-illuminating dials, LCD screens or LED lights are key components of many products nowadays and while many photographers find it difficult, it’s actually quite simple. For our next live show I’ll be showing you how to photograph a voice recorder that has both self-illuminating illuminating buttons and a LCD screen.
Medium-format vs full-frame: Testing the Hasselblad H6D-100c and Nikon D850
I was recently asked by Hasselblad to make a series of videos, several of which were a comparison between the medium-format Hasselblad H6D-100c and the best 35mm full-frame camera on the market at the time — the Nikon D850.
Portrait Photographer Tom Oldham – It’s a great gig
Tom Oldham started out photographing dance music 26 years ago after he bid farewell to a job in men’s retail. He set out with a simple hope — for “something a great deal less boring than standing in a shop”.
5 Portrait Photography Tips from Tom Oldham
Tom Oldham is an award winning photographer with 26-years of experience and soon he’ll be sitting down with Karl in studio for another exciting live show, where he’ll be discussing the highs, the lows and what it takes to crack it in the industry.
Studio Photography – Finding the right studio
For many photographers there comes a point when you think about opening your own studio. It’s a daunting step forward, and one that requires careful consideration. If you’re thinking about opening your own studio, whether it be buying or renting, there are a few important things to think about…
June 2018 ‘Fast’ Photography Competition Winners
Here are the winners of our ‘Fast’ photography competition. Our members had the chance to win the first prize of a Siros Lighting kit as well as second prize – a LEE Filters Little Stopper – and third prize – a LEE Filters Filter Foundation Kit.
David Lund – Designer to photographer
From diamonds to fishing rods, fashion to steel, professional liquids photographer David Lund’s nine-year career has been a rollercoaster journey. A Hasselblad demonstration at Falmouth Art College almost 10 years ago proved to be the turning point for David…
Simple tips to take better photos
As a professional photographer and educator people often ask me how they can improve their photographs so I’ve put together some simple photography tips you can use to improve your photos.
Beginner Photography Quick Start Guide
Starting out in photography can seem daunting but this quick start guide contains all you need to know to get the ball rolling. Having this knowledge will ensure that you not only master the basics but have the skills to progress and confidently take creative control of your photography.
The Magic of Parabolic Lighting
As a professional photographer, one of the most common questions I get asked is “If you could have just one lighting modifier, what would you choose?” And my answer is always the same — “The Para 133”.
March 2018 ‘Travel & Culture’ Photography Competition Winners
Here are the winners of our ‘Travel & Culture’ photography competition. Our winners entered some really thought provoking images that we felt fitted the theme of the competition best! The winner receives a Manfrotto 057 Carbon Fiber Tripod.
Top photographers in studio with Karl Taylor
View PostDecember 2017 ‘Moments’ Photography Competition Results
Here are the winners of our ‘Moments’ photography competition. The top prize for our March Competition is a Manfrotto 057 Carbon Fiber 3 Section Geared Tripod worth $839.99!
I gave away a Canon 5D mark IV… and more! Photography competition.
In this video I round up our December 2017 “Moments” competition winners plus mention and critique a selection of our top entries.
A simple 2 light portrait set-up
It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to create a high quality professional studio portraits & fashion images. In this video you’ll see a simple portrait & fashion photography lighting setup using softboxes.
Choosing the right lighting system
Choosing or even switching studio lighting equipment brands can be a big decision, so I’m going to share the things I considered before switching my own system from Elinchrom to broncolor. Hopefully by sharing this, you’ll understand my decisions and thought process so that you can make the right choice for your own photography.
Phocus 3.0 Can work for you
You may be wondering why I am bothering to mention this software as most of you don’t use Hasselblad cameras… Phocus 3.0 on Mac, whilst not designed specifically to do so, does offer third party support so you can process RAW files from close to 200 other digital camera RAW formats.
Landscape Photography Using a Standard 50mm Lens
Get more from your standard 50mm lens! Using this lens can often reveal new compositions and force you to think more about your images and composition! If we really strip it down landscape photography can be summarised into just three simple steps.
Hasselblad H6 Test – Compared with the H5 and Sony A7Rii
Rather than rely on manufacturer statistic documentation, I decided to put my existing Hasselblad H5 and a loaned Hasselblad H6 through my own rigorous camera test. To spice things up, I also got my hands on a Sony A7R ii and threw that into the mix too! See how it performed against the more expensive Hasselblads in this technical camera comparison.
Karl Taylor’s Recreation of ‘Dali Atomicus’ on the BBC
The iconic ‘Dali Atomicus’ has been a favourite of mine for as long as I remember. The team and I set out to create our own reproduction, but to do the image justice I wanted to come as close as possible to the original, although without the flying cats as I’m not sure this would go down to well with the BBC One Show audience!
David Lund – Diamond Shoot
Take a look at some of the work by Karl Taylor Education student David Lund for the company “Boehmer et Bassenge”, one of the worlds biggest diamond companies. It was the first time that he had taken on a project that was purely a video commission and during the shoot he filmed over £10 million pounds worth of diamonds!
Making my Squarespace website more effective to potential customers
There are many website building solutions on the market, most of them operate in a similar way but I choose to use Squarespace for my portfolio website. Making these kinds of navigation and photo gallery updates are easy and there’s no need for a website developer.
Food Photography Course
If learning food photography has been on your list then you don’t want to miss our NEW food photography online course.
Food Photography: Discover the art of creating beautiful food photography.
We caught up with Moscow-based food photographer and stylist Anna Pustynnikova to ask her a few questions about how she got started, her essential pieces of kit, and what advice she has for new photographers.
Professional techniques for red wine product photography.
In this short professional photography video tutorial I show you the process I use to capture this lovely bottle of red wine. I show you exactly how I set-up this shot, step by step, and explain all the necessary components in the lighting details.
Alex Wallace Pro Photographer
We caught up with Alex Wallace, a commercial and industrial photographer based in New Zealand, ahead of his appearance on our live show to ask him a few questions about what he carries in a typical kit and how he approaches different subjects and scenes. Here’s what he had to say.