Hill 4 just got way more tropical!

Previous year we had series of heavy upgrades across all Hill stages. This year is not an exception, folks. Stage Hill 4 just received a few more toys.

A tropical corner covered in green leaves.
Blue scooter… with helmet (heck yeah)

Behold oh dear, these are:

Blus Scooter

Corner with Tropical Green Leaves

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And the most exciting part of this announcement: no extra cost! These props are already included in the hourly rate. Hill 4 is equipped with great gadgets – black, white, and gray photo backdrops as well as three strobes along with light modifiers. Take a look at Hill 4 on our website for availability as well as rates.

Linda Elaine presents Enialē Cosmetics

It takes a tremendous work and a firm skill to shoot a multitude of people in a portrait series. Each face has to be nice lit with not extreme brights or darks. The positioning of models within a frame must be thought through. However, with proper orchestration the images turn out outstandingly good. The photoshoot for Eniale Cosmetics fits the example perfectly.

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Linda shared a short story about her passion and brand:

“My name is Linda Elaine and I am a blogger/beauty influencer who started my own cosmetic line: Enialē Cosmetics. The officiall release for this line was on October 1, 2017! It’s a line dedicated to enhance the natural beauty of all skin tones!”

Find out more about Linda Elaine and Eniale Cosmetics via INSTAGRAM and WEBSITE!

This session’s team comprised of:

MUA’s: @makeupbydion & @makeupbyhendra

Hairstylist: @sirchris_thebeardedbeauty

Models: @afrique_deesse @angelmydarling @adinett @brittanysmasonofficial

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.

Da’mon Broussard + Devonte Dupree

A 19 year old free lance photographer from Los Angeles, Da’mon Broussard has shared with us a few great photos that stood out with its peculiar approach of the model and a nice quality shots captured along the way. Da’mon stated that they were shooting for italian brand “Kenzo” that day. Make sure to check Da’mon’s INSTAGRAM for more great shots.The model for the session was Devonte Dupree INSTAGRAM Stage B features all black walls and ceiling, with capabilities to completely shut off the natural window light. Equipped with black, gray, and white background paper, three strobe lights and numerous modifiers for your choice this stage is all you need for a perfect, intimate, creative environment. To check the availability for this stage as well as find more helpful information about our rental please see the WEBSITE.

Jordan Doww covers “Say You Won’t Let Go”

photo credit @JonSams.jpg

Actor and Youtube personality Jordan Doww had a successful session of recording a video for on of his covers, this time James Arthur’s “Say You Won’t Let Go”. A beautiful song was in tact with nice, bright lighting conditions and resulted in this awesome video: Jordan was happy to share his experience of shooting at the Art Location of FD:

“Used your beautiful studios the other week to make this beauty!! This was my first cover ever. I’m an actor, comedian, and YouTube personality and music was always something I was interested in but too scared to post about. Glad I finally did it and had the best studio to film in!”

This session crew comprised of:

Drippin’ in finesse.

A post shared by JORDAN DOWW (@jordandoww) on Jan 4, 2018 at 9:24pm PST

Last night was truly unforgettable. Thank you to the @lalgbtcenter for always aiming to better the LGBTQ community here in Los Angeles by giving resources to thousands who don’t have anywhere to turn. I’m so honored to be able to work alongside you guys for certain projects and attend events such as the #VanguardAwards. Also, getting to be 5 feet from @jimmykimmel was pretty cool too. Remember, kids: LOVE TRUMPS HATE. Always. Use your voice for good & come together as one. Human rights are getting attacked daily with the new shift of congress and we can’t let them win. Own the YOU that you are regardless of outside opinion. I love you all!

A post shared by JORDAN DOWW (@jordandoww) on Sep 24, 2017 at 1:23pm PDT

Stage Art 4, used for this shoot, is notorious for the high-key white industrial design. It has also been recently adorned with wooden floor section and a wall veneer as well as portable blinds, made of dark wood slats. The latest upgrade the stage received was a nice looking cozy egg like chair and a STAR illuminating across its shape! As any of our stages, Art 4 comes equipped with 3 strobe lights and modifiers as well as backdrop paper of black, white and grey color. Take a look at Stage Art 4 HERE for its availability and pricing!

Antonio Dixon shoots Black & White

It is always great to see that many photographers from our studio experiment with b&w genre, despite the heavy trend of colored bright photography. Antonio Dixon delivered series of stunning b&w photos with, playing with hard shadows and film Noir alike light setup. Few words about the photographer:

“Antonio Dixon is a Los Angeles based photographer specializing in portrait, beauty, fashion, and family images. He’s also a skilled Retoucher and Creative Director providing professional photo post-processing, creative image editing, image compositing and manipulation, logo design, CGI and graphic design services.”

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This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer: Antonio Dixon | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE |

Hair: Arbana Dollani | INSTAGRAM |

Make Up: Miranda Richards | INSTAGRAM |

Few picks from photographer’s Instagram:

🔥Model: @steeleschim Hair/MUA: @caitnashmakeup 🔥 #instagrammers #igers #instalove #instamood #instagood #followme #follow #comment #shoutout #iphoneography #androidography #filter #filters #hipster #contests #photo #instadaily #igaddict #socialenvy #PleaseForgiveMe #photooftheday #pics #insta #picoftheday #bestoftheday #instadaily #instafamous #popularpic #popularphoto

A post shared by Antonio “Tony” Dixon (@antoniodixonphotography) on Jan 8, 2018 at 12:54pm PST

🔥🔥Model: @rainaalainaa // Hair&MUA: @caitnashmakeup // Styled By: @thenomadfashionista #photo #photos #pic #pics #socialenvy #PleaseForgiveMe #picture #pictures #snapshot #art #beautiful #instagood #picoftheday #photooftheday #color #all_shots #exposure #composition #focus #capture #moment #beauty #beautygram #willowmodels #fashion

A post shared by Antonio “Tony” Dixon (@antoniodixonphotography) on Dec 23, 2017 at 8:23pm PST

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.

Stephanie Williams for Five and Two Jewelry Lookbook

Choosing the right model and photographer to shoot a lookbook is a crucial decision. After all, the brand’s sales depend heavily on how well the product is marketed visually. For the jewelry company Five and Two Jewelry working with Stephanie Williams was definitely the right choice.

Stephanie Williams for Five and Two Jewelry Lookbook -wrongron360, Wrong Ron, Studio Photography, Stephanie Williams, stage Art 1, shot at FD Photo Studio, rental stages, Photoshop, Photoshoot, photography services, photographer, modeling, Los Angeles, Five and Two jewelry, FD photo studio, fashion, DTLA, blog, !done, !Art1

Quick facts about the photographer:

“Stephanie Williams is a Southern California native and currently lives in Orange County, CA. She spends her time traveling between Los Angeles and far flung destinations and enjoys painting, yoga and calligraphy in her spare time.”

This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer: Stephanie Williams | INSTAGRAM |WEBSITE |

Wardrobe Stylist: Chloe and Chenelle | INSTAGRAM |

Hair + Makeup: Bethany Garita| INSTAGRAM |

A few picks from photographer’s Instagram:

SS18 campaign for @jennyyoonyc

A post shared by Stephanie Williams (@stephanieshootsfashion) on Jan 3, 2018 at 5:20pm PST

@alydagrace featured in the upcoming issue of @lucysmagazine with my dream team…makeup artist @kcwitkamp hair stylist @tracehenningsen and wardrobe stylist @nikkigrattan ❤️❤️❤️

A post shared by Stephanie Williams (@stephanieshootsfashion) on Dec 5, 2017 at 5:28am PST

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.

Roselyne Prieto + Allison Hampton

Simple and natural, a beauty photoshoot organized by Roselyne Prieto and TWO MGMT, Los Angeles based men’s and women’s agency representing some of the world’s top models, recently took place within FD studio’s walls. Images turned crisp and sharp, very well color balanced and without any major photoshop cleanups.

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This session’s crew comprised of:

Photographer: Roselyne Prieto | INSTAGRAM|

Makeup: Francie Luxe | INSTAGRAM|

Hair: Alyssa Rene

Model: Allison Hampton. | INSTAGRAM|

Stage Hill 1 is one of our newest and brightest stages we currently offer. Facing the west side this stage gets lots of natural light in the afternoon and has amazing lighting conditions during the golden hour. Among included props are industrial wooden table with benches, two antique green chairs and white leather comfy chair. Besides, Hill 1 comes equipped with black, white and grey backdrops already installed and three strobe lights included in the hourly rate. Have a look at Hill 1 on our website for more information, prices and availability.

How to make wet portraits with Gavin Hoey

Looking for experiments in your portrait series? Tired to shoot from the same angle? We might have an idea that would make your work look more splashy! Using water in portraits is both exciting and tricky to execute. Firstly, you would need to take all precautions to not damage your equipment and background – get plenty of towels. Secondly, freezing water in the photo would require a flash light, in this example it is Flashpoint StreakLight 360 Ws Creative Collection . Today we will show a technique of Gavin Hoey and Adorama TV that will get you up to speed with “wet portraits”.

Wet hands

Before throwing a bucket of water into model’s face let’s test out first how splashes would look on hands. It will save both the model’s clothes and your time of setting the camera/light settings. On the StreakLight 360 we want to set a very low flash duration. Thus we will lower the power and set it on 1/64.

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The flash light is positioned behind the model for purpose of highlighting drops of water and eliminating it in the shot. Plus the shadow on the model’s hands/face creates more dramatic effect. You can place the light in front of the model to experiment yet the result would be different in delivery.

Camera’s shutter speed is 1/250. ISO 400 to give more room for flash light adjustment. And the F stop on camera is F4.

Taking a snap.

The first photo turned out ok but there is a couple of things we can do to make it even better.

Most cameras have high speed shooting mode. Gavin put his on 10 frames per second setting.

Wet face.

Once we tried on hands, we can move on to start pouring water over model’s face. In this setup the model is leaning back and the water is being poured from above. Before shooting, it never hurts to check camera’s settings again using light meter. Also, it is a good idea to check if your lens has gotten any drops of water on it and wipe it out using a lens cloth.

In this setup photographer tries out two positions – shooting a model from a side and from the center.

Expression and props.

Once the lighting is setup correctly and you are already getting shots you wanted it is time for the icing on the cake. It really makes a difference when a model shows strong emotions through facial expression. Having some props like a helmet or goggles might add an interest to the photo and make it more dramatic.

Room To Practice

Great news! FD Studios will soon have aqua zone available specifically for water involved photoshoots.

Stay tuned for exciting updates 🙂 Watch the full tutorial video of Gavin Hoey for Adorama TV here:

How to shoot dramatic portraits using a beauty dish with Joel Grimes

A beauty dish is one of the essential modifiers that every photographer should have in the arsenal. According to photographer Joel Grimes from Westcott Lighting, the most dramatic effect that can be achieved with the beauty dish is who you either have the light going from top to bottom of from the side to side. These are the best, most beautiful lighting scenarios on the planet. Today we will be exploring the top-bottom setup.

Top Down Beauty Dish

In the first set up, Joel has the 24″ beauty dish right above the model, top down. That way any shadow from eyes, nose, chin, lips will go straight down. The length of the shadow can be adjusted by either bringing the light up or down.

The background is black, which in the shot will turn grey since so much light hits it from the short distance. His camera is at the shutter speed 1/250, F stop 7.1 – the sharpest f stop on his 24-70 1.8 V2 lens. ISO is 100.

In this example Joel is shooting with a rather wide angle (24-28mm), which is uncommon for the portrait photography. When shooting wide, the model’s hands in this example get bigger due to lens distortion – the kind of effect that the photographer is after.

The first step is to get the exposure right. Since Joel wants to keep his camera lens at the sharpest F stop, he decides to change the intensity of the light instead to get proper exposure.

If you feel like you would want to add a bit more drama to the picture, try raising the light a few inches and turning the strobe head a bit downwards.

Beauty dish + 2 edge lights

In this setup we are adding two edge lights on each side of the model. The goal is to create a sharp edge on the model’s face.

We will start out with both lights being on equal distance and equal power. And then we will adjust the power level on the main light to bring more drama into the photo.

To bring more drama into the photo you would need to find a proper balance between the center of the model’s face and sides. If the center is too lit, the image turns flat. If the center is too dark, you might loose the details.

Watch the full tutorial video of Joel Grimes for Westcott Lighting here: