BIG CREW or SMALL CREW? We asked 4 PRO photographers Ep.2

“You might be a photographer if: Your eyesight from staring at the computer has gone from F11 to F1.8.”

Naman Pokarna’s Photography

What is your favorite team setup? Do you like the hype of the crowd or are you more inclined towards intimate photo session ?
We asked 4 professional photographers about their personal preferences and reasons behind it.

The full interview is available of YOUTUBE. For your convenience, here is the transcript of it as well.

Ace Style @ace_style: I prefer working with a small crew, mainly because I do a lot of natural light photography, which doesn’t require a large crew. I prefer to get very close with the model, with the subject I’m working with. It has a very special connection and is just more relaxed.

Paul Roustan @roustan : With my work, I’m often hired to paint on set, and so a lot of times I’ve been around huge crews; but with my own work, with my own conceptual studio work, it’s usually just me. I don’t use big studio lights. I usually use manmade lights or small flashes, if not just natural light. But I usually just like me and the model, just the two of us, though sometimes I’ll have a third photographer on set documenting the process.

Mila Zvereva @mila_zvereva : I’m comfortable working with any size crews, but it’s always dictated by the nature of the shoot. If the setting is more intimate, I might go as far as stay one-on-one with the model.

Bekah Wriedt @bekahwriedt : I tend to work with small crews, just because I love the intimacy and the relationships that come from the small team.

WANT TO LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY?

Check out our WORKSHOPS in Los Angeles that teach you hands-on how to make great photos!

One of our closest workshops – Studio Lighting 102 : Portrait Photography Lighting

will take place on November 29th, 7-9pm in one of our Los Angeles studios !!!

Watch the full episode :

Great Session At Hill 2 Stage

Photographer Noah Nash made a perfect visit to our “wall of lights” stage, taking a full advantage of complete light control in a blackout environment.

A quick excerpt from photographer’s bio:

“Photographer, Noah Nash, is a creative fine art, fashion, and portrait photographer based in California. His artistic work began from an early age through drawing. Noah’s goal as a photographer is to document and capture one’s essence with creativity and true craftsmanship. “

Members of the crew:

photographer: | Instagram | Website

model: | Instagram

stylist: | Instagram

mua: | Instagram

At the location:

Stage Hill 2 is one of our latest additions and the second blackout stage we currently offer. Painted all black from top to bottom with the matte color this stage absorbs the light making it easier to control reflections and have complete control of the light painting. Spacious, nicely conditioned and minimalistic, Hill 2 is perfect for video and photo shoots, big or small crew. As any of our stages, it comes with three paper backdrops preinstalled – white, grey and black, and three strobe lights included. For more information please check stage Hill 2 on our website.

Patricklee Hamilton + Algo Brehane

Photographer Patricklee Hamilton nails a perfect photoshoot at the rain room, featuring majestic Algo Brehane in a sexy swimwear.

A snippet of photographer’s story.

For full bio please visit Patricklee Hamilton’s website.

Patricklee Hamilton is a Los Angeles based Photographer specializing in dramatic low light portraiture. He also services some select clients with professional industry standard headshots for the highly competitive actor or actress looking to make an impact in Hollywood as well as the professional working fashion and glamor model looking for the right content to Introduce to their portfolio.

This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer: Patricklee Hamilton Instagram

Model Algo Brehane

The stage:

Studio Hill 7 also known as a rain-room stage, offers unique experience for photographers to capture images in a wet environment”. Equipped with one of a kind shower system, now you can shoot models in the “rain” against white/black backdrops. For more information visit stage Hill 7 on our website.

Become Better Photographer: Creating Beautiful Window Light with Daniel Norton

Today we are going to talk about using window light, or actually creating window light, with photographer Daniel Norton and AdoramaTV. In Daniel’s studio in New York there huge beautiful windows with plenty of sun light coming through. However, according to Daniel:

It’s kind of nice, whatever, but when you want actually use the windows in the shot. Unless you’re there exactly at the right time of day. The lights never where you want to be. So what I often do is, I fake it!

To fake the windows light Daniel installed Profoto B1X outside the window and set it up at an angle, similar to the angle of the Sun, going across the outside of the building.

This is going to give an even, consistent light, which has a couple of advantages:

Every exposure is gonna be the same.
It’s gonna give what you expect, because it’s flash.
It is possible to shoot with the faster shutter speed

Daniel is shooting with his Hasselblad here X1D, 90 mm lens. 1 Profoto light outside.

Before we use the flash, let’s see how it looks with just natural light.

That looks pretty good, right. not bad. Nice even light, the windows a little bit blown out behind her, but that looks pretty good.

Now let’s turn the flash on.

There now, we can see, we have nice dramatic controlled light across her face even. The front windows a bit lower from the flash, but behind her the windows now have detail, and we can control the brightness of the windows simply by adjusting a shutter speed up and down, depending on how the lights changing outside.

Let’s try to shoot with 1/125 shutter speed to show the difference.

Now we see again even light across her face, the backgrounds got a little bit brighter, everything looks really nice.

As you can see, with this technique of an extra light shooting from the outside of the window it doesn’t matter what happens outside. There could be thunderstorms, it could it could become night, whatever. Now we can shoot some good pictures, consistently.

WANT TO LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY?

Check out our WORKSHOPS in Los Angeles that teach you hands-on how to make great photos!

One of our closest workshops – Studio Lighting 102 : Portrait Photography Lighting

will take place on November 29th, 7-9pm, in one of our Los Angeles studios !!!

Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV:

Studio Upgrade: Snack Up & Drink Up!

No time time to run to a store for a quick snack? Feeling hungry but delivery will take at least an hour? We got you fam!

Now at the Hill location, in the MakeUp section corner, we have put a nice and neat vending machine with some healthy options to choose from!

Our fancy menu includes chips, energy bars, sodas, energy drinks, cold tea, and of course cookies for all ya cookie monsters.

Whenever you book either Hill 1,

Hill 2,

Hill 3,

Hill 4,

Hill5,

Hill 6,

Hill 7,

or Hill 8,

just know… that refreshing can of coke is waiting for you.

Stage Upgrade: Get Ready for Christmas!

Christmas 2018 set up available for photo and video rental in Los Angeles

Although you just folded your Spider Man Halloween costume back in the attic’s chest, it is time to pull yet another funny outfit – with oversized red pants and long white beard that can be described only with “ho-ho-ho” sound. Yes, it is about the Christmas time!

We have been behaving pretty good this year, so would expect to see a heap of presents under our Christmas trees, now set up beautifully in stages Hill 5 and Art 2.

So from now on up till Christmas Eve, anytime you book those two stage expect to see this marvel:

WHITE CHRISTMAS TREE IN HILL 5

Studio Hill 5 is one of the best option we have for creative crews on the budget. This Romantic White Stage has its windows facing South, which provides plenty of natural light for photographers. Among studio’s unique props are Gold Bellman Cart, White Decor Frames Wall, “Victoria Secret” like pink striped wall section and a pink upright piano. As with any our other stages a standard package of three basic backdrops and three lights is available within the stage already. For more information visit stage Hill 5 on our website.

GREEN CHRISTMAS TREE IN ART 2

Besides this happy holiday mood, Art 2 comes equipped with everything you need for a perfect intimate, romantic or empowering style of photoshoot. This stage always leaves our clients excited and hungry for more time. Featuring a dark wood floor platform across the stage and a sexy dark leather lounge chair creates welcoming and relaxed atmosphere. A wall section with the brick veneer adds a flavor of downtown loft New York style. Among these unique features, the stage comes with great equipment – three strobe lights, three backdrops of white, grey and black color, sound system, makeup station and changing station. Take a look at Art 2 on our website for availability as well as rates.

Stage Upgrade: Pro Stage II Space Corridor

Photo studio rental with corner cyclorama available for rental in Los Angeles

PRO stage II keeps getting better every month. This year, we have already seen numerous renovations within Pro II space, including double Curved corner CYC-wall, the bed platform section by the window, and a few nice additions like a huge American flag.

Stage Upgrade: Pro Stage II Space Corridor -Studio News, Rental Studio, PRO stage space corridor, pro stage II, PRO II, Photo Blog, neon light studio, Los Angeles, LED corridor, LA Rental Studio, futuristic light studio, FD photo studio, DTLA, Announcement

Now it is time to put a cherry on top – introducing ” futuristic/high-tech, metal and light, corridor with a mirror”. Long name I know. There are so many looks that can be created with this installation that we are getting lost in description. Just take a look for yourself!

Take a look at Pro Stage II on our website! As a reminder, Pro II comes with standard photo backdrops of black, white and grey color, and studio lighting for stills are also included in the hourly rate. Make sure to catch the coolness of this space with your photo and video cameras and book with us NOW.

Stage Upgrade: Pro Stage III is now SoundProof!

Long gone are days when we regretted to announce that none of our stages are soundproof. With ever increasing demand for voice/sound sensitive production we decided to rework Pro III and make it our first soundproof stage!

Inside Pro III there is an approximately 18’x30′ soundproof room with LED lights inside.

The entrance to the make up station remains separate for our clients’ convenience.

Now you can be loud all you want or you can be as quiet as a mouse, recording your own breathing techniques – PRO III will work for you!

Starting at $49.99 per hour (weekdays) this stage also has convenient packages of 4, 8 and 12 hours available.

Find out more about PRO III and all included equipment that goes with it and book your shoot now!

Become Better Photographer: Choosing the Right Background with David Bergman

Backgrounds can make or break your pictures. How do you find a good one when you’re outdoors? In this episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV we will show you few tips on how to choose a background when you are outdoors.

The best backgrounds are ones that don’t distract you, and force your eye to go directly to your subject. Working in a photo studio, gives you the ultimate control over lighting and background. Obviously you don’t have nearly as much control when you’re outside. So you need to practice looking at things with a critical eye. You can decide where to put your subject, and you can line them up with a background that will work to your advantage. You just have to know what to look for. Here are few general tips that would help you choose the right background.

Subject/Background Contrast

The first thing you want to find is an area that’s dark in relation to your subject. Our eyes tend to go to the brightest part of an image first, and if you’re photographing a person, the brightest part should be their face. Look for a background that’s in the shade, or even a dark color to help it blend away behind your subject.

Details vs Plain Color

The second thing to look for is a solid background, something with a lot of detail. Might be interesting to photograph by itself, and works well in some photos, but if it’s too interesting it’s gonna pull you away from your subject. Which is the most important thing in these particular images.

Too close/ Too far

Lastly if you can pull your subject further away from the background, that’ll help it to go out of focus, and turn it into a smooth creamy texture that won’t be distracting.

Your subject will pop right off the screen, solid dark, and far away. If you can get at least one of those, you’ve got a fighting chance. Two out of three is awesome, and finding a background with all three of those elements will guarantee that all eyes are squarely on your subject….which is where you want them to be!

WANT TO LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY?

Check out our WORKSHOPS in Los Angeles that teach you hands-on how to make great photos!

One of our closest workshops – Studio Lighting 102 : Portrait Photography Lighting

will take place on November 29th, 7-9pm, in one of our Los Angeles studios !!!

Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV: