Kent Avery + Alex Boldea

Another great example, kindly provided by Kent Avery, of how the CYC wall can create the “infinite” magic on the photograph’s background. Shooting in high fashion style, the creative duo came up with clean, great photos.

This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer: Kent Avery @kentaveryphoto

Stylist: Autumn Star @autumnestar
Makeup: Raquel Hoke @raquelhoque
Model: Alex Boldea @itsalexboldea

Stage C was a choice of this creative collective for several reasons. Besides a tremendous space capacity perfect for both, large crews and small teams this stage provides a white CYC wall that is always freshly painted for each client. In addition to the prop count, a grass wall and a wood floor corned section installed for your creative exploration. With large South and East facing windows, this stage gets lots of natural light throughout the day. Find out more about stage C on our WEBSITE.

“Andrelina” by The Black Lotus Films

Photographer known as The Black Lotus Films produced great quality photography in stage C, working primarily with natural light. Implementing colored fabric backdrop into the session, model+photographer duo complemented the out fit and achieved unique look photographs.

How this photoshoot came to be:

“Got an opportunity to work with one of the models for the gypsy shack Adrelina Perazzo. I love the gypsy shack because they are a no height, weight or measurement agency who’s values really resonate with me. They hold great meetups and have a lot of great people to work with.”

"Andrelina" by The Black Lotus Films -wrongron, Wrong Ron, The Black Lotus Films, Studio Photography, Stage C, shot at FD Photo Studio, rental stages, Photoshop, Photoshoot, photography services, photographer, Los Angeles, FD photo studio, DTLA, blog, Adrelina, !done, !C

This session’s crew comprised of:

Model Adrelina Perazzo @andrelinaa_
Agency The Gypsy Shack @tgstalent
Photographer The Black Lotus Films) @theblacklotusfilms

More photos from this shoot are available here!

Photographer’s choice for the shoot was stage C. It features large South and East facing windows, with lots of natural light. It is notorious for accommodating large, high end production crews and sophisticated artistic projects due to its versatility. Enhanced with the large Cyc wall available as well as paper backdrops, grass wall and wood floor corner this stage brings variety to your backstage. Find out more about stage C on our WEBSITE.

4 PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS FOR BEGINNERS! WE ASKED PROs, ep 3. Aug 12

“It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary.”

David Bailey

WATCH THE FIRST PART OF PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS HERE .

Continuing series of photography tips for beginners, here are 4 advices from Professional Photographers in Los Angeles that will help you hone in on your skills.

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

Julia Mindar @juliamindar_photography : Do not send raw pictures. This way they gonna be on the Facebook, they gonna be on Instagram, they will sign you as their photographer and if you have a certain editing style as I have, you deal with a little irritation ’cause everyone choose a picture. You choose it, you can choose a bad picture, they could add an Instagram filter on that and they’ll say it’s your work and ruin your style, your reputation so like people are asking all the time, “Do I get all the pictures from the shoot?” What I do, I say, “I can send proofs, the small images they won’t be able to post anywhere so they can choose some pictures they want to edit it for me to edit. Usually I just say that I can send all images from the shoot because my editing style is my signature, it’s my image, this is my reputation and I can do it.

Jon Sams @jonsams : So when I started out I was looking at a lot of behind the scenes videos. I was ripping pages out of magazines, I was zooming in really closely to the model of the subjects eyes to see what light modifiers they were using. You can look at an image and deconstruct how it was created and try it out for yourself.

Dee @trill_imagery : Don’t listen to outsiders, what other people have to say about your art. No one can tell you how to create your art, you know? Will it be to other people like you? Yes and no but it’s your art so that’s one of the main things that I tell people to not get discouraged about how someone may feel about your work. That’s your work, so you the artist here.

Mois @moisnomois: My main advice to photographers just starting out would be don’t listen to what anyone says, haters gonna hate, potatoes gonna potate.

WANT TO LEARN how to shoot with strobe lights, in the studio environment?

JOIN US FOR “Studio Lighting 101” WORKSHOP that will take place on August 22nd, 7-9pm, in one of our Los Angeles studios !!!

Watch the full episode :

Lorenzo Belmonte at Secret Loft

Photographer Lorenzo Belmonte visited our Secret Loft location, accompanied by three gorgeous models, two stylists and MUA. The session resulted in series of sleek, high-end magazine ready photographs, with a glamorous flavor of metropolis lifestyle.

Few words about the photographer:

“Eye for design, so I believe my photos and graphic design reflect my artist style.

Photography isolates the fundamental artistic ability to see the extraordinary. It is through arrangements of light, angle, lense and a split second decision to capture the moment that make photographs an extremely personal expression.

Personally, I always try to go above expectations and push the proverbial envelope. No matter what I do – I always go above and beyond.

No one is going to give it to you, you have to make it happen.”

Lorenzo Belmonte at Secret Loft -wrongron, Studio Photography, stage #secretloft, shot at FD Photo Studio, Sabrina Lynn, rental stages, Photoshop, Photoshoot, photography services, photographer, modeling, Los Angeles, Lorenzo Belmonte, June Walton, Julia Mindar, high fashion, FD photo studio, fashion, DTLA, blog, !secretloft, !done

This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer Lorenzo Belmonte @lorenzobelmontephoto

Model Julia Mindar @juliamindar

Model June Walton @summerinjune_

Model Sabrina Lynn @sabrinalynnci

MUA Nancy @421ajb

Stylist Kristy @furrociousfurr

Stylist Bauhaus @4n6design

Location #SecretLoft @fdphotostudio #fdphotostudio

Our Secret Loft is located in the heart of Downtown LA. Featuring floor to ceiling windows with gorgeous urban city views, its windows are facing south-west, which provides different light patterns and effects inside the apartment. It also has a kitchen area with large dark quartz countertop that is also available for photo and video projects as well as shower/bathtub, hallway and bedroom area. Find out more about secret loft, prices, hot deals, and availability here!

Sam Hodges with COUNTESS

“Dark, mysterious and with heavy 808s on the background” is how one would describe this artistic shoot photographer Sam Hodges did in Hill 2. Featuring brilliant model Countess, the duo played nicely with provocative shots, while harmoniuosly swinging off and on focus.

Sam Hodges is a Los Angeles based photographer specializing in commercial and fashion photography.

Watch the snippet of the video from the shoot on Countess’s Instagram:

I’m a video ho now 💃🏻// I wish I could post the whole thing. God is dead and Instagram killed him. // Video @samhodgesphoto //💄 by @makeupbyjacqie // 🎵 by Lorn

A post shared by COUNTESS (@countessportfolio) on Mar 6, 2018 at 12:55pm PST

This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer – Sam Hodges // @samhodgesphoto

Make up and Hair – Jacqueline Holden // @makeupbyjacqie

Model – Countess // @countessportfolio

!!! 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.

Minimalist Wedding by Angelica Marie

Another great wedding photoshoot took place in Art 1 stage. This stage has been a #1 choice among bridal and wedding photographers due to its spacious accommodations, undeniably good lighting conditions, and soothingly white interior. Needless to say why these photos taken by Angelica Marie turned out so natural, smooth and warm.

Write up from Grey Likes Weddings:

“Some brides believe in simple but beautiful details for her wedding – unfussy and uncomplicated – and this stunning inspiration will suit her perfectly. About the vision, Angelica from Angelica Marie Photography: “For this shoot, I really wanted to focus on the beauty of simplicity and to show couples that you can have a beautiful, intimate wedding with minimal details.” Rogue and Fox produced cascading arrangements in gorgeous white florals and ferny greens for days, bringing elegance to the minimalistic chic of the venue, FD Photo Studio and the pops of grey and gold in the design added just the right amount of contrast. An Enlightened Event helped to bring all the elements together to create the perfect atmosphere for the less-is-more bride.”

Check out the blog post about the shoot on Friartux.com

Minimalist Wedding by Angelica Marie -Studio Photography, stage Art1v2, shot at FD Photo Studio, rental stages, Photoshop, Photoshoot, photography services, photographer, modeling, Los Angeles, FD photo studio, fashion, DTLA, blog, Black Notch Lapel Tuxedo by Michael Kors, Angelica Marie Photography, An Enlightened Event, !done, !Art1v2

This sessions’s team comprised of:

Event Planning + Design: An Enlightened Event
Photography: Angelica Marie Photography
Menswear Style: Black Notch Lapel Tuxedo by Michael Kors with a black bow tie

Stage Art 1 was a choice of location for this session. Adorned with features like white grand piano and three step podium this stage is a tool of versatility, provider of great natural light, benchmark of industrial Downtown minimalistic design. This space has its windows facing South and West and gets beautiful direct light during the PM hours, and great open-shaded light in the morning. Using strobes? No worries, we include 3 strobe lights in the hourly rate along with black, white and grey background available. Take a look at Stage Art 1 HERE to see what equipment is included in the hourly rate, as well as its availability and pricing.

How To Shoot In Midday Harsh Sun with David Bergman.

Shooting outside, in midday, when the sun is right above you is arguably the worst setting a photographer can find herself in. Firstly you get harsh shadows everywhere. Second, those harsh shadows appear in the most undesirable places – like right under model’s eyebrows, creating distinct shadows on eyes – an effect called “raccoon eyes”.

The easiest solution to that is to simply move to the shade. Step under the roof of the coffee shop, or under the bridge. Such shelters against harsh sunlight will tremendously help to get nicer light on the photo.

However, in case there are no shelters around, or you need to shoot at the specific location, you would have to create your own shade. In this episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV we explore several techniques of how to do it.

Shade Example #1.

Equipment: white translucent diffuser, C stand with the arm, sand bag.

The idea is very simple. Use white translucent diffuser as a roof above the model. It will block harsh sunlight from above but let through nice soft diffused light. Usually it takes away 1 stop of exposure but has more variety in models.

Mount the diffuser on a C-stand arm, lift it up above the model. Don’t forget to put a sandbag on the C-stand leg – the wind outside might steal the diffuser (with the c-stand probably as well) right in front of your eyes.

Shade Example #2.

Equipment: black flag, C stand with the arm, sand bag, flashlight or portable mono light.

In this example we severely block the sun light from above, leaving our model in a very vivid shadow. It creates the room to introduce your own, controlled light sources. Use flash light, or battery powered mono light to light your model the way you want, while still shooting at the desired location.

Mount the black flag on a C-stand arm, lift it up above the model, like in a previous example. Put your controlled light in front of the model.

Shade Example #3

Equipment DIY

If you do not have any aforementioned equipment, go DIY. The idea is to soften the light from above. You can achieve that by using an umbrella, or silk fabric.

Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV:

How To Shoot Portraits Using Natural Light with Mark Wallace

Shooting with Natural Light is both exciting and challenging experience. On hand, due to the fact that you cannot control the intensity of natural light, your camera will be constrained to higher ISO numbers, wider aperture and faster shutter speeds. To balance this triangle of exposure you would have to sacrifice one to another. On the other hand, having this immense, irresistible light source is a magic itself, and photographs you get from natural light are just breath taking.

In this episode with Mark Wallace from Adorama TV, we explore his way of shooting with a window light only.

Camera Settings

ISO: 400. This parameter will give you some headroom for brighter exposure without introducing noise and undesired artifacts still.

Shutter Speed: 1/60 or 1/125. Faster shutter speed is ideal because when you shoot handheld, your shaking will definitely distort the focus. The faster shutter speed, the less shaking camera will capture. At the same time faster shutter speed will mean darker exposure – something we want to avoid.

Aperture: f 1/4. That is the widest aperture one can get with 50mm prime lens. First, it allows the most amount of light to be capture, making the photograph brighter. Second, it’s shallow depth of field is great for a creative effect. Mark Wallace loves to focus on eyes, with the rest of photograph falling into gradual blur. This technique is not uncommon among photographers.

Location

This set of photographs is set inside the hotel room, with two big windows on one side of the room. The room itself is painted white, with white bed cover – the surrounding acts as a reflector in our case, which can create a fill light on the opposite side .

Positions

In this example we explore two positions.

First position: model looks towards the window. Camera will capture only one side of her face, but well-lit, soft-lit side.

Second position: model turns her face against the window. Now both sides of her face are lit – natural light from the window works as a key light on camera’s left. The room environment reflect the light back on the model on camera’s right, working as a fill light.

For THIRD position mark moves further back from the model himself. Since he shoots with 50mm wide aperture lens, the closer you move physically to the subject, the more focal distortion is introduced. To remedy that we can move back from the model, shoot wider frame, and then crop it in post. Just make sure your focus is dead on the eyes.

Watch the full episode with Mark Wallace and Adorama TV:

!WORKSHOP! STUDIO LIGHTING and 3-LIGHT SET UP

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” This quote by the founder of Eastman Kodak Company, George Eastman is the motto every photographer must write on her inspiration wall. Alas, many photographers spend too little time learning the nature of light and methods to control it. And even less time is being dedicated to learn how to work with strobe lights – the benchmark of studio work.

Luckily we came up with pretty neat workshop that will teach you hands-on on how to setup, position and tune strobe lights for your best creative outcome.

Ladies and gentlemen, we deeply encourage you to attend our STUDIO LIGHTING 101: Introduction to Studio Lighting and 3-Light Set Up.

Here are few details about workshop:

Who?

Toma Kostygina INSTAGRAM WEBSITE

With thousands of hours spent on sets and at photo studios, Toma has gained experience in everything that you need to start working with studio lights. She has been always inspired by photography masters and artists so she’s decided to take it to the next level. While attending Photo classes at Santa Monica college she has mastered creation of custom sets and thorough production. From assisting on sets such as for Coca-Cola, Italian Vogue, GQ, Interview magazines and Benefit cosmetics she is now working with A-list photographers and magazines. Toma is always in search of improvement her skills and creativity. You will find her work bright and colorful with some concept behind like for Grammy-nominated Sofi Tukker or David Bowie Tribute.

What?

We will cover several topics to get you up the speed:
1. Introduction.
2. How studio lights work.
3. Light modifiers demonstration.
4. Additional lights & modifiers.
5. 3-light set up for a portrait & practice.

Where and when?

Stage PRO I (FD Photo Studio PRO Location), August 22nd 2018, 7pm – 9pm.

Why?

With this easy, introductory workshop ending with a test shoot, you will get the knowledge you have been looking for! The average photographer who doesn’t know how to work with strobes wastes about 30-45 minutes of studio time trying to set it up. With this workshop you will be prepared to start your shoot from minute 1, saving both your time and money!

How much?

Tickets are only $35 and we have 17 spots left!