Shooting

Claire Benoist is a Brooklyn, NY, pro who contributes product photography to this (and many other) publications. But she also likes shooting flowers: “Nothing comes close to natural forms for sheer beauty,” Benoist says. In fact, she likes flowers so much, she often can’t decide which of her many floral studies to retouch, print, mat, and frame.

It’s easy to see a fashion photo as being all about sartorial style, but equally important is how a picture’s mood can sell that style. Lighting and gesture work together to pull it off. Dallas-based fashion photographer Heather Key explains that mood is the beginning of everything, and that there’s no secret, really: It all starts with the people you’re working with.

For a photographer, living within walking distance of one of the most graphically compelling civil engineering projects in the U.K. can provide constant inspiration. For one as avid as 57-year old Kenneth Barker, a cab owner and driver from Falkirk, Scotland, it’s turned into a daily obsession.With his Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 in hand, once or twice a day, almost every day, Barker walks the family boxer by the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift that connects two canals in central Scotland.

Camera makers extol metering systems that deliver perfect exposure every time, but here’s the reality: Often there is no one correct exposure. That’s why Las Vegas shooter David Thompson makes a habit of bracketing all the important pictures he takes. It lets him, if necessary, produce high dynamic-range (HDR) composites in the editing stage. As a result, his best photos always show plenty of highlight and shadow detail, even with high-contrast scenes. As habits go, it’s a keeper.