We met Santa Claus by Gaston Batistini

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Canon 5DMKII with the 24/105mm 4IL IS USM

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
ISO 100, 1/6 sec, f/4.0, @55mm

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Adobe Photoshop CS5

Q4. Who is the model?
An old guy who is doing Santa Claus every year in the Bitcher'land in France

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I went to my parents in law and in the middle of the night I woke up and I told to my wife that I want to make a picture of Santa Claus in his house. The morning we called him and I told him that I was a fan of him and I wanted to visit him in his house to make the picture. He was astonished but finally I convinced him and he agreed.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
There was no way to come with a lot of material while a single flash was not the best way to do it. So I put him on a chair near a window and it gave this great Santa Claus look.

Smoke by Rikke Skov

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I did the shot with a Nikon d70s and two external flashes.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
ISO 400, f/5, 1/1250 sec - for the main picture.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I used Aperture 3.0 and Photoshop Elements 6 to edit my material.

Q4. Who is the model?
The model is me! All of the extra footage is from my archive, both the smoke and the skull.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
The idea just popped up in my head when I was thinking of Smoke - Smoke was the theme at one of the Flickr groups.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
When doing the shot I remembered why I stopped smoking. :)

Untitled by Daniele Napolitano

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon EF f1.8 85mm lens. I also used two strobes, one on the left, for the rim light, behind the model and another one up above on the right, pointing down, as the key light.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
I shot in manual mode at 1/200 sec, f/8.0, ISO 200. I used a wired remote to take the picture.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I used Adobe Lightroom 3 for framing and balancing the tones and Adobe Photoshop CS5 to clean the skin a little bit.

Q4. Who is the model?
The model is myself, it's a self-portrait :)

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I discovered I really like the shadows produced by very angled lights since they tend to emphasize the face features and create a dramatic feeling. So I went with it!

Untitled by Natalya Smirnova

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Pentax K-7

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
Exposure Time = 1/160", F/4, ISO = 100, Focal Length = 50mm

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Windows

Q4. Who is the model?
It's my daughter, Alex. I take pictures of her from birth. She loves this and comes up with images and stories. I just suggest her situations and accessories.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I love retro. Our Russian retro. I collect vintage furniture and accessories. Clothing. With photographs I reproduce the mood and the feelings that I experienced in my childhood. Many things I do not remember but saw in the Soviet movies, family photos. I do not idealize the Soviet times as many Russian people. I only show the history of life. Ordinary stories of ordinary people.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
In this photo my daughter is in a school uniform that I wore in the 1988-89's.

Les Alpinistes II by Sime Jadresin

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Pentax K20d with a Pentax 50mm f/2.0 lens, Metz 48 AF-1 speedlight, umbrella.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
1/180 sec, f/8, ISO 100

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
CameraRaw, Photoshop

Q4. Who are the models?
The most faithful of them all. ME!!

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
This is a improvement of the picture called Les Alpinistes. The idea? Like with all other pictures - it just came into my head and didn't want to go until I took the shot!

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
The funniest thing was the expression on my girlfriend's face when she opened the door and saw me imitating the second climber. :-)

Milk today by Cath Schneider

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used Canon EOS 5D MarkII with Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro lens.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
1/200 sec - f/3.5 - ISO 160

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Canon DPP and Photoshop CS3

Q4. Who is the model?
The models are Lili (a wonderful little girl and my daughter) and Harry (a small hedgehog in our garden).

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
When I took this picture, I was walking in the garden with my daughter to do some macro photography. We saw this little hedgehog across the road and gave him some milk to drink. My daughter had never seen a hedgehog so close before and nor had I.

Cage by Giorgia Pallaro

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used Canon EOS 1000D with Canon EF 28-90 mm f/4-5.6 lens.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
1/100 sec, f/4, focal length - 35 mm.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Camera Raw and Photoshop CS4.

Q4. Who is the model?
The model is Giulia, one of my best friends and a truly awesome person.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
When I took this photo I had just finished reading "1984", the famous novel by George Orwell. That book aroused me deeply, and I really needed to represent the emotions I had, so I decided to take a picture about the quote "Freedom is slavery", one of the principles of Ingsoc.

Chloe Morello by Lam Tran

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used a Sony A900 with Minolta 'Beercan' 70210

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
ISO 200, f/5.6 and focal length 130mm

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Photoshop CS4 & CS5 are my friends.

Q4. Who is the model?
Chloe Morello doing modeling and makeup artistry at the same time.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
The art direction came from Dave Reid, an amazing makeup artist in Canberra. We did this shoot for Elite Models casting day, filmed by FTV Australia.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
I did this shot against a plain white wall, lit up by 2 speedlites.

Untitled by Luisa Möhle

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used a Canon EOS 40D together with my Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 and a reflector.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
ISO 100, f/2.0, 1/125 sec with an Av-mode.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I only use Photoshop Lightroom to edit my pictures.

Q4. Who is the model?
It's Jan, who I photographed before: grenzbild.de/galerie/jan

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I found pictures of the location on the internet and we chose to go there. The rest developed during the shoot.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
Just before he was going to undress, some people including a child approached. They were going mushrooming and we had to wait a while, because we didn't want to frighten or rather surprise them with a naked man in the moor.

The "S" Family by David Pinkerton

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Nikon D90, Nikon 85mm f/1.4 D lens, SB-600 flash in a Lumiquest Softbox III (very close to each face for soft light and little spill), 2nd SB-600 (bare) above and behind for hair light.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
ISO 200, 1/200 shutter, f/6.3

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Adobe Photoshop Elements 9. Each head shot was taken individually and then they were all put together in Photoshop Elements. However, there is no post-processing on the exposure in any way. The lighting balance was all done on location and in camera. This was shot in a small dining room.

Q4. Who are the models?
The models are members of a local family who agreed to do some purposeful advertising for my business and let me get some specific shots for my portfolio (this being one of them) in exchange for free sessions and discounted products.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I have seen this type of shot exactly three times on Flickr before I started doing it myself.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
The only funny or humorous fact about this shot is that the baby was only two weeks old so it was quite difficult to get a shot of her with her head in an upright position!

The Blue Sailor's Song by Purvi Joshi

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used Nikon D90 camera with 18-200mm Nikon VR DX lens.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
I had to click about 3 separate photographs for this image. I clicked all of them on Manual mode and manual focus. But the shutter speed and aperture setting were different for each one of them.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I used Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Q4. Who is the model?
It's a self portrait... So it's my own photograph clicked with help of a tripod and the camera timer.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
This shot is inspired by one of my favourite song's video - "If a song could get me you" by Marit Larsen.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
The interesting fact would be that I myself wasn't so happy with the final result but it turned out to be my one of the most favourited images on Flickr.

Contemplation by Bill Gekas

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Pentax K7, DA40 ltd lens, Westcott 50" softbox camera left with Yongnuo YN460-II flash inside at 1/4 power fired with Cactus V4 rf trigger.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
Manual, ISO 100, 1/180 , f/6.7

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS3

Q4. Who is the model?
Model is my 3 year old daughter as she's always available when an idea clicks in my head.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I've been sort of interested in the late 19th century paintings of child portraits and wanted to recreate something similar. Originally it was meant to be in color but the vintage B&W seemed the better choice. We shot about 20 or so frames and towards the end I got this one shot where she was looking down and we went with it.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
Getting a 3 year old not to fool around is the difficulty. Q: So how do you bribe a 3 year old to co-operate? A: "Chupa-Chups".

Berry Princess by Charlotte Bibby

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
Nikon D200 with 50mm lens and Hensel Porty 1200 lithium - one lamp from side with beauty reflector, one directly behind as hair-light (no attachment) and a gold reflector below the model

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
1/250th second, f/8, ISO 100

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Photoshop CS3 RAW editor and Photoshop CS3

Q4. Who is the model?
My eight year old sister, Erin (it was only a bit of fun! I don't normally put makeup on her!)

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
My mum bought a berry wreath for a fancy dress-costume, and I liked it and wanted to shoot a photo that wasn't a self-portrait the afternoon my mum bought it, so that's where my sister came in.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact that happened while working on this photograph.
Erin pretends she doesn't, but she loves being in front of the camera if I am photographing her and she is really good at 'posing'. In real life she's a tomboy, so she complains if I do anything with her hair or make her wear a dress. Throughout this shoot she was complaining that the wreath hurt her head!

D is for Drama by Krista Long

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used a Canon EOS 20D with a 50mm 1:1.8 lens

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
Settings were ISO 100, f/6.3 at .60 sec.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I used Photoshop Elements 8.0 to edit

Q4. Who is the model?
The model is my daughter, Kobie.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
This photo was taken for a group I participate in called, "Our Daily Challenge". The challenge for the day was, "the letter D". I immediately started thinking about my dramatic daughter. It was a Saturday, and we had a bunch of girls in the house playing. They really got into the costume box and came up with many dramatic looks, taking turns modeling for me in the pink chair. I had a feeling my daughter would bring the extra drama in her attitude that made the picture!

Efímero by Alisa A

5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
The equipment I used is Canon 450d and Canon EF-S17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
The image was shot at 200 ISO, f/8.0 and 1/50 sec, using a Flash Pro 285HV (strobist)

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
Photoshop CS5

Q4. Who is the model?
The model is me. Ha-ha... It´s something like a self portrait

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
Well, this idea came up many months ago I think, while I was listening to Puccini´s "Madame Butterfly". But I didn´t know how to use CS5 properly in order to create that effect. And the make up is some kind of imitation of the Dior models I saw once in Vogue magazine.

Robbie by Will Manning

Tim Flach, professional animal photographer: "I think this image works well."



"The employment of black and white separates this image from many others, while shallow depth in field helps the viewer to navigate from the carpet to the eye of the dog.
This photograph represents to me, with the choice of the King Charles Spaniel: the archetypal lap dog in it's natural habitat i.e. domestic". - Tim Flach


5 questions about this photo:

Q1. What equipment did you use?
I used a Canon 5D MkII dSLR with the Canon 85mm f/1.8.

Q2. What settings did you have on your camera?
I shot wide open at f/1.8 and ISO 1600 because of the low light environment. The shutter speed was 1/100.

Q3. What software did you use during the post-production?
I used Adobe LightRoom 2 in conjunction with PhotoShop CS4. There was not much post processing on this image, though - just a slight boost in exposure, a little contrast, and a black and white conversion.

Q4. Who is the model?
The model is my dog, Robbie! He's pretty old now, but my whole family loves him.

Q5. How did you come up with the idea of this shot?
I was just walking around with my camera, and I decided to snap a few shots of him. He was finally sitting still, so that made it easier. I also wanted to play with the depth of field on the 85mm f/1.8.

Extra Q: Please share an interesting or funny fact (if any) that happened while working on this photograph.
I thought it was kind of funny that he was looking at me while I was taking it... I was lying on the ground across from him, and he seemed kind of confused about what I was doing.