Much of what I write about is geared towards the serious hobbyist or for the individual that is considering photography as a viable income and career choice. I am not a gear slut nor do I spend countless hours pouring over product specifications. Once upon a time I was interested in all this, today I am older and wiser. The brands and gear I use do not get me work or cause me to loose work. What gets me photography jobs is HOW I use my camera gear, the styling crew I use, and hopefully because of the final images.

I get so many emails asking what I use, it’s getting ridiculous, lol. Comments on forums have created myths such as my favorite one, “Thorsten is shooting with agency supermodels and $10,000 lighting systems, definitely not a lighting video tutorial for the average guy”. Wow, I am going to have to say that is one of the finest compliments I have ever received. Unfortunately the quote is also completely false and silly. That is like saying that a chef’s recipe must taste so good, because they have a great set of pots and pans.

The models in my book are agency beginners or everyday folks from ModelMayhem. The lighting gear is usually 1-2 mono-heads. Recently I switched over to Photogenic Professional Lighting and use their 1000w/s and 500w/s mono-heads. I pose the models myself and use a great crew of stylists and terrific clothing designers to make it all happen. My lighting modifiers are mostly of the DIY variety, and the typical large octabox, grids, and beauty dish. All the lenses I shoot with are prime lenses because of the sharpness and lighter weight.

Computer wise, I have been using Apple for the last two years. I feel that the OS is more robust, better suited for creating media rich content, and requires zero maintenance from me. Simply put, my work-flow is now much faster, secure, and more efficient. For location work I use a Mac Book Pro and for studio work it is the Mac Pro 8-core. Not that Apple is better than Windows, I believe that Apple has created a more robust environment for color-management, both on multiple monitors and also color integration. Yes, I live in a Microsoft city, my best friends work at Microsoft, and I applaud Bill Gates for his vision and civil service. I just like Apple OS so much better for what I do, and that is the opinion of my industry, and more importantly….how I conduct my daily work.

By now we have all heard about monitor color calibration or wondered why prints do not match what is on your screen. Color management is probably one of the most important topics in digital photography and is really not as complicated as it was just a few years ago. I use a product made by Data Color called a Spyder 3 Elite. It sits on the monitor and does a 10 minute calibration process. This is done every 2 weeks to make sure that the monitor does not drift. Every digital device sees color differently and needs to be calibrated or zeroed out. For LCD screens I use the “Native Color” setting, Gamma of 2.2 (MAC and PC), and Luminance of 120.

Then we have all these different color profiles to work with and also 8 bit verses 16 bit images. Oddly enough there are still a few folks out there that let the camera figure out all the exposure information and color processing directly into JPEG instead of RAW. Professional photographers developed their own film at pro labs, we can do the same with RAW processing software. Today I use Adobe Camera Raw and also Lightroom. Other great programs are Apple Aperture and PhaseOne Capture One, and several others.

I am always looking for the highest image quality from the RAW file. I instruct the software to output in 16 bit and a Prophoto colorspace. This colorspace is wider than what commercial printers can use, in fact it is even wider than what our monitors can show, and comes as close as 90% of what our eyes can differentiate. If your digital camera was made in the last 5 years, the sensor can capture Prophoto colorspace just fine. 16 bit images have 65,536 values for each channel instead of only 256 values for 8 bit. Having all these values gives me all the subtleties and smooth image tones I require. I do all my retouching and final image adjustments on this image in different layers. When everything is done, this becomes the Master File, layers and all. For web use I make a flattened 8 bit sRGB version. Clients always get the flattened 8 bit Adobe 1998 version unless they specifically ask for the Master File version and understand what it is.

My favorite plugins for Photoshop are Imagenomic Portraiture v2 and AlienSkin Exposure 2. That is it and all I use. My lighting and RAW processing is always on the flat side for maximum digital information. Then I run a “Film S-Curve” from one of the film settings in ASE2. Skin retouching is done with a skin mask on a separate layer with IPv2. Then I add noise onto that layer to make it look believable again. Personally speaking, that over-processed plastic skin look was super cool in the Prada ads 3 years ago. Today my clients want to see a few skin pores. Art Directors let me know what retouching techniques are old and out of style.

For that matter, don’t embarrass yourself and retouch the hell out of everything, clients may think that you don’t know what your doing with lighting and give the job to the person with a more natural look in their book. Sure, that guys images are retouched also, but perhaps they did a better job and it looks real. Retouching efforts go through trends just like clothing. Simply because you like that heavy retouched look, it doesn’t mean everyone else will. You get my point, enough on that, forgive my preaching.

TIP: If your shooting models for an agency and they see plastic skin on the edits they will send you home. The agency will let you know what they want retouched. The problem is this, clients will see a model with perfect skin and features on the comp card, yet when he/she show up for the casting or shoot he/she looks completely different. Now the client may bill the agency for misrepresenting the models features and wasting their time. Yes this is a true story and I have heard it directly form the agencies. Consider yourself warned, lol.

Everyday I see photographer websites where the image color and exposure is all over the place, the website owner claims to be a professional photographer at XYZ Studios.com, and they do not have a studio or color management. Owning professional gear does not make a professional, it is knowing how to use it properly and providing quality images for your client.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with not having a studio, misrepresenting yourself and having to explain it later is worse. I find it far better to say, “I rent when I need it, keeps my overhead and pricing affordable”. People appreciate honesty and will respect you for it.