Joon Song + Kira Mamula

Joon Song is a practicing attorney, informal writer, wine enthusiast, and amateur photographer. He strives to find the human connection in each of these fields. In this photoshoot Joon explores nude photography with model Kira Mamula.

What was the inspiration for the photoshoot?

“The inspiration for these photos is the photographer Ruth Bernhard, whose nudes from the middle of last century remain startlingly modern, as well as Edward Weston. We wanted to play with light and form, and as a pilates instructor, Kira was very well qualified to adopt and stay in the poses required in the shoot.”

Joon Song + Kira Mamula -wrongron, Wrong Ron, Studio Photography, shot at FD Photo Studio, Ruth Bernhard, rental stages, Photoshop, Photoshoot, photography services, photographer, Model, Los Angeles, Kira Mamula, Joon Song, FD photo studio, Edward Weston, DTLA, blog, beauty shoot, !done, !B

This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer: Joon Song INSTAGRAM WEBSITE

Model: Kira Mamula INSTAGRAM

Stage B is a benchmark blackout stage designed to provide complete control over the strobe light. Painted all black and with shut off windows this stage preserves complete darkness for your photo and video projects. As any of our stages, B comes equipped with black, gray, and white background paper, three strobe lights and numerous modifiers for your choice. To check the availability for this stage as well as find more helpful information about our rental please see the WEBSITE.

Simple Things Ceramics Product Shoot

The founder of Simple Things Ceramics, Viktoryia Kernes, has reached out to us to share their fun product photoshoot. Immersed in an ocean of natural light, the crew perfectly blent in the scene.

A little about the photographer and her work.

“After getting my MBA and working for Fortune 500 companies for the past 8 years, I’ve decided to become a small business owner. Early in 2016 I discovered that working with clay can be an immersive and a meditative experience. Clay, much like art therapy, provides an expressive outlet, through slow and mindful clay practice. I fell in love with the craft and the idea behind STC studio was born. My approach to ceramics is unlike anything else out there. It’s a fun, relaxing, and deeply purposeful experience. By engaging the mind and the hands the brain relaxes and stays in the moment.

Simple Things Ceramics embraces the wellness model that has been successfully used in Yoga, Meditation and Spinning, and applies it to clay workshops. We give each customer a truly unique way to unwind, reset, connect and create. Simple Things Ceramics is an online/ local pop up store and a mobile studio space in West LA offering clay workshops, immersive team experiences, art classes and community events. At Simple Things Ceramics, we go beyond the “paint-your-own” pottery shops that use prefabricated designs. My goal is to create a unique world of artistic expression for all guests. Ceramics is the new Zen, and this movement is just getting started!

The shoot…

We are in the process of editing the business pitch video we shot at the studio earlier this year. To bring this project to reality, we are looking for crowd funding support to reach our fundraising goal to open and promote the Simple Things Ceramics studio project. The money raised will go toward opening a community art space for adults and children in the West LA neighborhood.”

This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer: Anya Kernes INSTAGRAM WEBSITE

Video Producer: Albert Bugoff (Founder of Happy Little Accidents Productions)

Director of Video Art Photography: Xenia Leo ( and Founder of Xenia Leo Studio)

Stage Art 1, a long-time FD Photo Studio favorite, was used for this shoot. With the high-key white industrial design that FD is notorious for, Stage Art 1 is a clean setting that can be manipulated to fit all kinds of projects. 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.

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.

14 PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS FOR BEGINNERS FROM PROs, Vol.3

“Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.”

Tony Benn

Continuing our series of photography tips for beginners from PROs, in this episode we expand on topics

– where to start as a photographer
– what to focus on from very beginning
-what kind of mindset a beginner photographer should have to succeed
– and 10+ more

Here are stories and PRO advices from awesome photographers in ASK 4 PHOTOGRAPHERS Youtube episode.

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

Attila Adam @atillaadam_ : Even though I’ve been shooting, I consider myself a newcomer, and I think it’s a really tricky thing because everybody tells you that you need to be a specialist and in my life, what I have learned is that actually, in anybody else’s teaching you get, they go like, “Don’t put all your eggs into one basket.” That’s like the life lesson that I’ve learned here. Yet everybody else wants to tell you, photography, that you should specialize. I think what you need to do it photograph what you’re passionate about, whether it’s micro or macro photography or landscapes, or whatever that is, do what makes you happy. I think from that, figure out what it is that you can do and do it well and branch out from that point on. I do feel that you should try a whole bunch of different things. From action sports to other things, because photography is an art and it also has technical aspects to it. So I think you should learn a lot about your equipment and other people’s equipment. And you should learn a lot about different genres and styles, to figure out what you really want.

Wanderlust Creatives @wanderlustcreatives : There’s this thing called ‘fake it ’til you make it,’ and there’s some truth to it. You keep the drama to yourself. You don’t tell everyone about the negative parts of your job, any job, you know, your work. But, I think being genuine about your artwork, like being … showing your true self through your work and also to the people you meet, it’s very important, in this day. Kindness is the new forum. I really believe that.

Loretta Richert @lolagraphy_photo : I would suggest finding friends and people that you feel comfortable with and starting there. So you show up with some confidence until you can build your confidence in photography and expand.

Wanderlust Creatives @wanderlustcreatives : And another advice to anyone who’s trying to build a business, photography, although a lot of it is creativity and art, it’s still a business and you still wanna grow it. We started in 2014 and we really didn’t feel the break until like three years after, and we’re still working towards a certain goal. So give it a few years. Give it at least five years, I would say, to see if it’s something really for you. The growth is always exponential, I think, in anything, especially in business.

Karina Dobra @karinadobraphoto : I think it’s important to listen to your own heart. Maybe it’s important to the artist or the photographer to be alone, to be in solitude, so you can experience, you can dig deeper, in your heart, in your soul, and see what is inside, what is it you wanna do.

Loretta Richert @lolagraphy_photo : I have found that it’s really helpful to start with what you know. Since I started as a dance major, I knew dance, I felt confident in dance, I felt confident working with dancers, so I started there. And they’re inspiring so that helped as well. You’re walking into the shoot knowing something about what you’re shooting and not brand new to the photography and the subject you’re shooting.

Karina Dobra @karinadobraphoto : And sometimes we’re distracted by too much noise and too many people, too many opinions and points of view. So it’s really important to escape and see and just look inside of you.

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 :

Stage UPGRADE: Hill 5 is your new fave PINK STAGE

If you were to walk inside Hill 5 stage right now, you would’ve caught yourself thinking “am I in a Victoria Secret store or something?” No, there are no lingerie shelves with discount tags hanging. And there are no sweet perfume scents spread around to put you in pull-out-your-credit-card hypnosis. What we have there is something special. We pinky swear.

WHAT IS INSIDE ?

Pink/dark pink stripped corner is the art piece itself. Then there is this pink piano accompanying the theme. And a plain carnation pink wall by the window, for minimal vibes, concludes the overall design.

And the best news is – it is still one of our most affordable stages and goes for as low as $29.99 per hour!

Book Hill 5 now, while you still have a chance! (before Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel launched a conquest on it)

How To Shoot multi-shot technique “Brenizer Method” by David Bergman

In this tutorial from Adorama TV, David Bergman is faced with a predicament. Walking through the park with a model, David decided to capture the nice scenery but by only using prime 85mm lens and wide open aperture.

The problem, however, is the fact that you cannot frame much of scenery around the model in the shot with 85mm lens. It’s just too narrow for that. Of course, you can step back at shoot from the distance. However, that blur effect from shallow depth of field will disappear since your model is too far from the camera.

If you were to have a medium format camera that can with shallow focus length and wider view, there wouldn’t be any issues to complete the task. But what if you only have your regular DSLR?

To create a digital image exhibiting a shallow depth of field in tandem with a wide angle of view, you don’t need a medium format camera. In fact, Ryan Brenizer used to mimic a medium format camera to create this type of image called “Bokeh panorama”, subsequently named as Brenizer method.

To create it, a photographer will shoot on manual exposure and manual focus multiple overlapping photos of much wider area of the same scenery by turning his camera quickly from one section of the desired frame to the next one.

Make sure that your model stays still during this process to keep her sharp in focus all the time.

After you got all section-images of the frame captured, use stitching software like Photoshop’s PhotoMerge to create a final, wide angle, medium format looking photo.

Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV:

Make $$$ As A Photographer! MYTH OR NOT?

Make-money-As-A-Photographer!-MYTH-OR-NOT?

“If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.”

Jay Maisel

How do you advance your photography on a business end?

In this episode we discuss different scenarios of making money with photography. Although it might sound pragmatic, the financial aspect of “photography as a career” plays the crucial role in a healthy, successful development of the profession.

From working as an in-house full time photographer to a freelance life and its financial implications, here are stories form 4 Professional Photographers in ASK 4 PHOTOGRAPHERS” Youtube episode .

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

Carlo Parducho @carloparducho : It’s hard to make a living as a photographer if you freelance and you don’t like talking to people or talking about yourself and your work, because that’s what you have to do. They call it shameless self-promotion. If you don’t like doing that, then yes, you’re in big trouble, unless you work as an in-house photographer, which is what I do. In that case, you do one interview, you stick with that job for as long as you can, and then you get a paycheck doing photography.

Jon Sams @jonsams : Just by the nature of the business it is kind of hard to become a full-time photographer, especially with such an influx of home brewed photographers who are coming into the business.

Jon Sams @jonsams : If you just focus, you focus your drive, you make it your whole goal, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to become a full-time photographer.

Julia Mindar @juliamindar_photography : It’s a huge topic about paying photographers, because lots of people, they don’t understand why they need to pay over 200 for a photographer.

Julia Mindar @juliamindar_photography : Seems present to be really easy to go and just taking a picture is so easy, I can ask my friend to do that. But for me, it’s not only two hours or three or four when I’m on the shoot. It’s also 10, 20 hours when I’m editing, and hours of preparation, of thinking about stuff of the shoot, bringing all my equipment. If you are creative enough to explain it to your clients, you will be good.

Mila Zvereva @mila_zvereva : It can be a challenge to find regular gigs and become a go-to photographer. Technique alone is not enough. A successful photographer is easy to work with. Synergy, personal attention to clients, models, crews, are essential. Once you develop a reputation as someone who can achieve it, the money will find its way into your pockets.

Carlo Parducho @carloparducho : If you want to be a professional photographer, you need to do it because you like working with images, not because you’re looking for a side gig or whatnot, because if you want to make serious money consistently, then you need to be making pictures all the time. You can’t just put your leg up and do one shoot a month, put your leg up and hope jobs will come.

WANT TO TEAM UP WITH OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS TO SHOOT IN A UNIQUE SETTING?

SIGN UP FOR OUR GROUP SHOOT ON A SAILBOAT! that will take place on August 2nd-3rd, 1-3pm, in one of our Los Angeles studios.

Watch the full episode :

How to Better Your Communication with Clients from Vanessa Joy

What is the best way to communicate with your clients? Is it through email, or a text? Or Instagram messaging? If you ever felt like there is a inconvenient latency in responses between you and your future payer, maybe it is time to rethink your communication model. In this episode from Adorama TV with Vanessa Joy (and her awesome show “Breathe Your Passion”)

we explore 5 (well, actually 4) tips for better communication with clients.

1. Communication

Long gone are ways to communicate through email. Nowadays, if you want to make sure your clients receive and read your message, you’d have to chat via messaging systems like iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, FB messager, etc. The generation of millennials is the iPhone generation. They do not read lengthy, boring texts in the email.

They chat in short sentences on WhatsApp instead.

So as a rule of thumb, Vanessa Joy usually sends the information about proposal/shoot in the email and RIGHT AWAY follows up with the text, like “hey I just sent you an email, have you checked it by any chance already?” That way she makes sure, the client is on the same page with her.

If your clients are reaching out to you through Instagram, double your messages there as well to make sure recipient “seen” it.

2. Make Instruction Videos

In 2018 videos are still the most effective form of online communication, instruction and advertisement. So why not take advantage of it and create a video for your clients?

You can use it as an F.A.Q. information about your services and terms, or provide visual explanation about next steps you and client will take to reach the goal, or for sheer promotion on your social media.

Include it in your email, chat box, or share it through Instagram – a video is the easiest digest of information for your client.

3. Be Fast

24 hours – that used to be a number that showed your due diligence in response time to the client. NOT ANYMORE! Now, the best time to respond within upon receiving the message is ONE HOUR. One bloody hour.

While it might seem impossible to catch up with such swift pace, online services like “17hats” might help with organization of your workflow and make things easier for ya.

4. What’s Next?

Never leave your client hanging in the unknown. If you finished shooting, tell your client how you are going to edit it and what your deadlines are. If you have already sent photos, leave your client in the “till the next time” mood so she would want to work with you again. Your client is wagon, and you are the locomotive, so lead the way.

Watch the full episode with Vanessa Joy and Adorama TV:

3 NEW Stages in New York!

We keep expanding our studio portfolio in the Big Apple to better cater to our clients’ needs – that is to provide professional quality studio space for an affordable price. Our recent additions to the portfolio fit the motto perfectly.

3 NEW STUDIOS are opened in New York and are available to book RIGHT NOW.

WHERE IS IT?

All 3 studios are located at 4020 22nd Street, 4th floor, Long Island City 11101. So plan your commute accordingly.

NYC Studio 1

WHAT IS IT?

All three studios are prepped in canonical FD style – white walls with huge windows and columns; industrial, minimal looks with lots of sunlight coming through.

NYC Studio 2

WHAT IS INCLUDED?

If you ever rented out any of our LA studios – you know the drill. It’s the same policies, freebies and level of customer service (which is impeccable).

To mention it once again, here is what is included:

3x Flash Units (Strobes)
Paper backdrops (white, grey, black) come preinstalled.
Fans, Sand Bags etc
2x Make-up Station
Mini Fridge (3.2 cu.ft.)
Black Leather Sofa
NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED
It is a 100% private stage.
We do not require any permits/insurance to shoot
It comes with Sound System to set the mood of the session
Free WiFi is on us!

NYC Studio 3

Find out more about our new NYC studios pricing and availability by visiting our website, calling us at 323-454-2323 or emailing us at info@fdphotostudio.com!

jAHH’s Birthday Shoot

Birthday shoots are not seldom for us. And while our clients are taken off the ground with a gazillion of helium inflated balloons, we are happy to accommodate to our best abilities to make sure – this photoshoot will be unforgettably good. Photographer Chris Thomson and his model, cute boy jAHH, can definitely vouch for that!

Here is an short excerpt from Chris Thomson’s biography page:

“Since leaving University of Central Oklahoma in 2007, Chris Paul Thompson, has dedicated his life to a pursuit of the commercial arts and encouraging others to find ways to express themselves. Through photography, marketing design, and consulting, Chris built a name for himself under the Chrisp Images brand.

After years building his brand in Oklahoma City, OK, Chris headed to Dallas in pursuit of new opportunities. He quickly found himself working with Def Jam artist Bone, and Sony Music artist Party Boyz and Dj Mr Rogers. While in Dallas he also designed for Triple D Gear, Rich Minds Records, Chenapan, and consulted for Nerdy Fresh Clothing.”

This session’s crew comprised of:

Model: Jakari @jahhproject

Stylist: Kailani @kailaniraye

Photographer Chris Thompson @chrispaulthompson

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.