Making an interesting and beautiful still life is not an easy task. Here at National Geographic, we’re lucky to have a number of photographers who really shine in the studio.

One of those photographers is Robert Clark, whose fascinating work on taxidermy was recently featured here on the Proof blog. Clark takes a meticulous approach to lighting and researching his subjects. Because of his attention to detail, he has worked on several natural history stories for the magazine.

Clark has recently been working on a new edit of his February 2011 magazine story “The Long, Curious, Extravagant Evolution of Feathers” for a book project. As he digs through thousands of bird, fossil and feather images, Clark