Every one of these videos is remarkable because it essentially takes you inside Gregory Heisler's head as he thinks through how he wants to photograph each cover shot. As you listen to him take you through his thought process, think about how you'd think through your next portrait session. How much more remarkable would your work be with this kind of preparation?

It's the newest addition toProfoto's Master Series with Gregory Heisler talking about his cover shot of Alonzo Mourning.  It's incredible how much of Gregory's thought process is packed into 3 1/2 minutes of video.  This is great stuff  and as I've asked before, "How good would your portrait work be if you put this kind of thought into every portrait sitting?"

Thanks Profoto - this is one of your best yet!

by Skip Cohen

One of the highlights of my career was spending three weeks with Gregory Heisler when we were both asked to do portfolio review at Hallmark Institute. Every day for three weeks three judges reviewed each graduating student's portfolio in front of a live audience. It was one of those projects that I'd describe as "the most fun I don't want to do again!" Reviews often took up to an hour, as each image in every student's portfolio received a full critique from three different judges.

On our way out to dinner one night it just happened to be my birthday. The headshot I'm still using was done by Gregory, who simply said, "Come on, we've got to do a fast headshot of you for your birthday!" There's no way I was going to pass up my headshot by Gregory Heisler!  He set it up with a vertical softbox about a foot from the left side of my face. His Hasselblad was set up about 18-20 inches in front of me. He shot wide open and had an assistant hold in an opaque card between the softbox and camera just to keep the flair off the lens.

Here's the funny sidebar - my daughter was a photo student then and asked how the shot was taken. I gave her all the information and she called me a few days later. "Dad, I'm trying to create a similar image and I keep frying my subjects!"  Oops, I forgot to tell her Gregory only used the modelling light and never turned on the strobes!

Gregory Heisler is one of the finest photographers in our industry. He's photographed at least 75 covers for Time Magazine and if you're at a convention where he's speaking, run don't walk to grab a seat!

What I love most about these short videos is listening to Gregory take us through his thought process for whatever project he's about to embark on. This was no ordinary portrait session. It was Derek Jeter for the cover of Sports Illustrated and following Gregory's thought process will give you some remarkable insight.  Now imagine how your images would look if you did your own "whiteboard" for every portrait sitting. How much better could your images be if you gave every client's session this level of forethought?  As always, a big thanks to Profoto. This is great stuff.

Gregory Heisler and Bruce Springsteen for Time
It's another moment of brilliance thanks to a little help from Profoto.  Gregory takes us through white-boarding his shoot with Bruce Springsteen for Time Magazine. As always, what I love is his thought process and how much you can learn just listening to Gregory as he takes you through what he hopes to accomplish in the look and feel of the image. It's only a three minute video, but loaded with so much insight.

by Skip Cohen

This is actually the first video in Profoto's Master Series with Gregory Heisler. So often photographers look at an image and recognize the skill set of the photographer, but don't understand the background that's gone into the final image. In this short video, Gregory shares the background in making this iconic image for Time Magazine right down to his choice of cameras.

I love these short videos that highlight so much great educational information. In this new addition to the SCU archives, Gregory talks about his technique.