Mixing the disciplines of photography, painting and sculpture, this Bay Area commercial artist creates breathtaking composites that have made him the hit of the advertising world.

You’ve probably seen his work. Perhaps you’ve admired the undulating, morph-ing landscapes he’s created for Asian automobile ads: The writhing, shifting trees in the background at first look like the snakes of Medusa, but a closer examination reveals that they’re made of people. In another, a large white moon floats above a vehicle, but the orb is actually composed of globs of bodies. The ads are strange yet fascinating. 

Or maybe you’ve stumbled upon his images in Communication Arts, Graphis, American Photography or Photo District News. His work is everywhere, and no wonder: The studio photography of Mark Holthusen is an unusual combination of straight photography, miniature model making and Photoshop, a blend that gives his work an eerie, painterly quality. He’s hot, he’s in demand and he’s dominating a new niche of photography in an ever-more crowded digital world.

In an age of digital wizardry and pixel manipulation, studio photographer Mark Laita still makes precise commercial images with the “old school” methods of perfect lighting and an unerring eye.

In an age of digital wizardry and pixel manipulation, studio photographer Mark Laita still makes precise commercial images with the “old school” methods of perfect lighting and an unerring eye.
Los Angeles-based still-life photographer Mark Laita is, oddly enough, significantly influenced by tennis champ John McEnroe. In addition to believing that McEnroe could have won any and every match he played with any kind of racket, or even a garden rake — “Art is not about the tools,” Laita says, “but about what you do with them” — he credits McEnroe with an idea that has guided Laita’s own personal and professional life.

The L.A. photographer's fantastic set designs and multiple exposures elevate even the most mundane subjects to heroic proportions.

Young Kate Turning's fantasy-fueled work was a bit too fashion-forward for the U.S. market in the late 1980s.

In those days, Turning was working as a newly minted photographer in the fantasy-friendly pop music industry, and her work was selling well. But she didn't want to be limited to record packages, promo shots and posters.

To move on to the big leagues, the studio specialist needed to take a daring step. "I had to leave America to truly find my voice," Turning explains from her Los Angeles studio, where she is enjoying a brief pause before jetting off on another assignment.

"It is very important to develop a personal style" in order to succeed in the hyper-competitive world...

No matter the subject, studio shooter Stan Musilek creates his own "decisive moment" to achieve results that are larger than life, better than real.

A Stan Musilek image is composed of opposites: monumental and intimate, luscious and spare.

Even in such a mundane space as a kitchen, these forces play out. The imposing, panoramic expanse of red and gray, the brushed-steel appliances and fixtures standing out like islands in a sea of crimson.

Your eye is drawn to the elegant woman as she leans against the counter and then to the man who pauses in mid-step in the background.

The scene is both austere and inviting at the same time.

Or consider an elegant model presented in beautiful pearly grays unveiling...

Her slick, stylized celebrities and fashion images have made her an in-demand L.A. photographer. By applying similar techniques to animals and crying children, however Jill Greenberg has stirred up controversy.

Studio photographer Jill Greenberg raised the ire of self-appointed child advocates everywhere — or at least in the blogosphere — with her show "End Times," an unusual collection of images of unhappy children in tears, which opened at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles last spring.

Using the stylized, shiny-people look sought after by her commercial clients for magazine covers and advertising, Greenberg printed the distressed youngsters larger than life size. Still, she didn't expect the larger-than-life backlash her work inspired.

Critics, some in photography and others not...

Part mother hen, part accountant, part field general, the producer ensures that the show must go on.

There are list makers in this world, and there are people who flow freely through life, without clock or calendar. Although photographers may fit in to either of these categories, studio producers always fall firmly in to the first group.

It's safe to say that, behind every great photographer, there is a producer standing in...

Three harrowing tales of shoots that were saved by ingenuity, quick thinking and a little luck.

Few cauldrons burn as fiercely as a studio shoot, fueled by sky-high client expectations, impatient art directors and intense deadlines. From within this crucible, some of the world’s most extraordinary photography has been created.

Yet even the finest of plans can shift subtly and go awry in an instant. How does one overcome adversity within the studio? Moreover, how does one transform an unraveling shoot into a great success?

Perhaps the key is to think of the studio as a laboratory. Photography could be called the greatest amalgam of pure science...

Known mostly for his polished corporate studio work, this Seattle pro is finding wealth and happiness by focusing on the small, rough-edged details.

Doug Landreth has been a studio pro for 25 years, often specializing in large production projects in his big, flashy Seattle studio. Recently, however, he's gone small scale, photographing bugs and flowers and turning them into highly textured fine-art prints. Better still, he's making some money with this new work while striving to please only one person: himself.

If that sideline sounds like a prescription for happiness and satisfaction for a harried photo pro with high overhead, well, Landreth couldn't agree more.

Inspired by the textures he had seen and photographed during a trip to Mexico four years ago, he began compositing...