guest expert: photographer

The following responses were generously provided by a photographer who agreed to be featured here.

> Phil Bode | TILT Photo | phil.bode@tilt-photo.com

What's the best way for people to reach you?

My website is a good place to view my portfolio, and if you want to reach me directly, I’m available by email (phil.bode@tilt-photo.com) or phone (612-599-4956) and am happy to receive a call or a text!

How did you get your start in photography?

When I was nine years old, I received a Kodak disc camera for Christmas. That was a huge flop for Kodak as the film negative was so small that almost every shot came out grainy. But I kept with it and shot for my high school newspaper and then went to college for photography. When I graduated, I moved to the Twin Cities and started assisting other photographers. Once I started shooting, I stuck with it, and now I have been shooting for more than 25 years.

How has your business evolved?

What a great question! Since I have been working in the commercial advertising photography market, there have been huge changes. When I started, we were shooting 2 1/4 x 2 1/4, 4x5, and 8x10 transparency slide film for almost every project. We would check our lighting and exposure by shooting Polaroids first before we shot film. (Fun fact: we had our own in-house film lab at the time, with a dedicated person to develop all of our film!) We only used computers for bookkeeping. 

When digital photography gained steam, so did working on your images in Photoshop. We made the big leap to fully shooting digital when one of our main clients (Target) requested that every vendor switch to digital. Shooting digital has become second nature but this also meant that our shot count per day and per project went up as we did not have to wait for film to be processed before moving on to the next shot. Now, I spend more time on the computer than I do shooting, as I do all my own post-work on my images. 

Also, the value of a photograph has changed, with our lives being bombarded every day with multiple images all day long.  

What do you most love about the work that you do?  

There are so many variables that make me love my job! My work involves collaborating with people, so whether I am shooting food, product, or people, we have the common goal of getting the perfect image. Communication is key, and there is a cool moment when you are working on a shot and everything falls into place: the lighting is perfect, the styling is perfect, and the subject is shown in the best way possible. This is the moment I really enjoy.

Why should people hire a photographer in 2025 when we have cameras on our phones?

I have been asked about this many times. We all have a great camera in our pocket, and it will figure out everything for you (exposure, shutter speed, and ISO). With the push of a button, the shot looks good, but “looks good” is only nice for Instagram and snapshots. If you want the best possible photo, hiring a professional photographer pays off and will make your image stand out.  

We are flooded with constant images in our daily lives, so having an image that represents your subject in the best light, in the best composition, and showing the best features really makes a difference. Let’s take a product shot, for example. A professional photographer has the knowledge to light, compose, and highlight certain important aspects of the product. They can add shape to the product, add highlights to the parts of the product that are important, and also get the product to stand alone against the background. A “snapshot” is good for quick scrolling, but a professional photographer can add to your brand or image by consistently showing off your subject’s best features in the best light possible, whether the focus is a product, a person, or food.    

What was one of your favorite small jobs? 

While I have worked on many meaningful small projects, one of my favorites was when I was hired to “document” small towns around the country for the Deluxe Small Business Revolution campaign. I was hired to fly to each town and literally show the character of the town and its townspeople as they were competing for the Small Business Revolution award. Since I have spent my career setting up and lighting my subjects, I found it refreshing to use the light and scenarios that were available. It was a challenging project, as each community I shot was in need of help, and I had to show the soul and heart of that community and convey what its needs were while showing the community in its best light possible. It really came down to me and a camera and using my skills to highlight each image as best I could. This was very different than my normal way of working, but so enjoyable. It was an opportunity to get back to basics.

What was a favorite larger or complicated job?

A couple years ago, I was hired to shoot on location for a high-end engineering company. The shoot consisted of two crews, a photo crew and a video crew. I managed it all and was the main shooter on the still crew. We were in a state-of-the-art facility and had to photograph high-end machines that manufactured items. The machines were all robotic and were basically silver metal and beige colored, so I needed to make them pop and look exciting. I used colored gels to highlight parts of the machines and complementary gels for the other parts. All the machines were different sizes, from tabletop to huge wall-mounted arms. It was a fun challenge to get every shot looking great no matter how big it was or where the machine was located. Plus, I needed to maintain constant communication with the video crew so all the videos and stills would complement each other.