DEAR ALL,
This blog is no longer being used. Please visit and bookmark our new blog where we will be making regular posts and providing a resource of other material for our followers.
http://www.takeabetterphoto.com
Many thanks
Karl Taylor
January 20, 2012
September 15, 2011
Karl Taylor film “No Regrets” wins award from Hollywood director Oliver Stone
Hi Guys, I know it’s been ages since I’ve posted so my apologies for that! We have all been exceptionally busy in the last couple of months putting the final touches on some new titles and finishing the edit on my short film “No Regrets”.
I’d love you to read more about the film and the behind the scenes info. The film is a 10 minute short and features the haunting music “Heaven” by Unkle, so make sure your speakers are on! We were ecstatic to learn that “No Regrets” won best overall video in the Vzaar video festival judged by renowned Hollywood director Oliver Stone! We’ve set up a separate website for the film http://www.karltaylormovie.com where you can watch it and learn more, I hope you enjoy it and look forward to your feedback.
All the best
Karl.
June 5, 2011
Classic Car Shoot
This beautiful 1965 VW Karman Ghia had been fully restored by Harrison Automotive and they asked if I could get some shots of the finished car along with a red TR6 that they had restored too.
With my studio on the first floor I knew getting the cars up the stairs wasn’t going to be an option so instead we went for a warehouse space to give us plenty of room. Unfortunately the client didn’t have the budget for us to rent a fully equipped car studio, so we had to rely on bringing most of my studio to the warehouse and a bit of DIY ingenuity for the lighting.
There were a number of photography related challenges to overcome including, large subject, glossy finish, multiple shapes and surfaces and working in a shipping warehouse with lots of daylight streaming in! However after about 8 hours work we managed to photograph this one and the TR6 and a bunch of details and interiors, so all in all quite a productive shoot and very happy with the results. For those of you wanting to know the technical stuff, how it was lit and what we used etc, you’ll be glad to hear that we filmed the whole shoot and provide a step by step guide which will feature in our forthcoming Product & Still Life DVD 
The full set of pictures should be appearing in one of the UK Classic Car Magazines soon, I’ll keep you posted.
© copyright Karl Taylor
© Karl Taylor Photography
June 2, 2011
California Time Lapse
Hi Everyone,
We recently returned from California filming some new material for our future DVDs and I thought I would share some of the time lapse sequences that I captured from LA and the desert at Joshua Tree National Park.
These are still very much a work in progress and quite a random collection of unedited clips, I’m hoping to to have a short film edited soon but just thought I would share these with you in the meantime.
We would also like to thank Jeffery & Nikki from Faded & Blurred for their help in California organising equipment for our rigs and helping with the filming permits at Joshua Tree National Park. For those of you who haven’t visited Faded & Blurred then check it out as it’s an amazing creative resource for photographers. You can also read what they wrote on us here www.fadedandblurred.com
If you like the short video below please share it around, we are happy the more people see our stuff! Soon we will be releasing new material, including the short film that we are working on and obviously the brand new DVDs this summer!
Hope you enjoy
Karl.
May 16, 2011
Hasselblad
Hasselblad feature another of my shots 
http://www.hasselbladbulletin.com/uk/may-2011/around-the-world/around-the-world.aspx
May 14, 2011
Support & Stability
That’s right, good support and stability is everything when it comes to professional results in photography. In this video I take a look at two of my favourite tripods.
After a loyal 11 years of service I had to replace my most used tripod recently so I thought it would be a good opportunity to show you the new model of the Manfrotto 058B as well as my other favourite the Manfrotto Neotec.
There are lots of different tripods on the market but this video simply shows why I’ve chosen these models for ease of use and durability…..Although I do think it is about time Manfrotto offered me a sponsorship deal
All the best,
Karl.
April 28, 2011
Our first Motion Time Lapse test results!
We’ve been recently testing motion time lapse footage for some of the sequences that we will be filming in the desert in the USA this May.
These random work in progress clips were made over the last couple of weeks and they demonstrate what can be achieved in a short space of time.
The tidal sequence was made over 6 hours from high tide to low tide, the forest and flowers was about 2 hours and the beach and stars about 3 hours.
We actually started using static time lapse a few years ago in the production and filming for our DVDs but are always keen to find other interesting methods of filming and telling the story. This motion time lapse makes the footage a lot more dynamic and interesting to look at. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of time lapse photography and now having had a taster of what we have captured in just these few clips I can’t wait to experiment further!
I hope you enjoy this short test footage and I will update you on the techniques and equipment at a later time when we have perfected the techniques!
All the best
Karl.
April 26, 2011
How to stop breaking my filters
One of the most common questions I get asked is about our filter system, so in this weeks tips video I show you the filter system that I use and how it works.
For those of you familiar with our DVDs you will also know how regularly I seem to break my polarisers! So I have a new tip to prevent that from happening
Enjoy,
Karl
April 20, 2011
Make Up & Hair
The work of a good make up artist should never be underestimated. Although good lighting skills and photography are needed to make the photograph, the process of good preparation should not be overlooked if your aiming for the best results. In my experience the higher quality the make up job the less time in photoshop is needed afterwards to correct skin, colouration and other details which could otherwise easily add hours in post produciton.
Recently one of the make up artists that we use contacted me to ask if I could do a freebie shoot with a model that she would supply. This was for some new images for her portfolio and a hair and make up competition that she entered each year with one of the cosmetic companies. I was happy to help and this shot was one of the results. To capture this image I used a beauty dish at front/above and a rectangular softbox on the my left slightly behind the model and a snooted light on the hair from directly above. A wind machine added a nice effect on the hair to finish the shot and I only needed to make a few simple contrast adjustments in photoshop for the final image.
© Copyright Karl Taylor Photography
April 15, 2011
Strobist Equipment
Hi Photography Friends, for those of you interested in remote flash guns and strobist techniques then this new FREE video might be of interest to you.
All the best
Karl
Photography Training DVD's
