Intimidated? Do it.

Studio photography. Sigh…Flashes, continuous lights, radio triggers, c stands, backdrops (both paper rolls and fabric), sandbags, umbrellas, soft boxes, snoots, grids, beauty dishes, ring lights, flags, reflectors, gels, and most importantly, other people: makeup artists, assistants, and models.

I was able to name a few things that make up professional studio photography because I’ve been a big fan and turned on by it since I first started shooting. I used to pour through tons of great fashion and editorial photographers’ websites and blogs and be in awe of the way they were able to shape and craft light. I’ll say one name: Joe McNally. I’ve mentioned him in other places. He’s amazing at what he does and has inspirited me for years.

Here’s the introspective career therapy portion of this text: All of that said. I have to admit: I am not very good at studio photography. Most of that, if not all of that, is simply from not spending time doing it. I’m not a natural at shaping light and most things take practice to improve. For years my excuse was not having the time and space to practice. That was as I just said, an excuse. However in the year 2021, my lifestyle changed in the way of having a small art studio near downtown LA. Excuses be gone. Time to learn and play.

I told myself that when I had visitors to the studio that an tradition will be that they have to sit for a portrait. Well, I had my first visitors to the studio recently (Nov 2021) and I followed through with that idea. The visitors were three of my long time friends from Stamford, CT. Charles Hair is an actor and writer that has run his own bookkeeping business for a while, but now that he’s landed in Los Angeles. He’s looking to get his creativity flowing again. Jon Abrado has become a successful model and actor is his own right over the last decade and we had always talked about shooting together. Last, and never least, Kayla Pavia, who is all over this website, was in the room. She’s an actress, comedienne, and works on that awesome animated series Star Trek Lower Decks. Yeah, I’ve got some cool friends, and I was very grateful that they sat for me while I played with light in my studio space for the first time. I went with black and white:

Self critique

Positives: I had in mind to stick with a 35mm focal length and I’m glad I did. I have a tendency to lean on longer focal lengths and tightly cropped close up, probably from a love of blockbuster action movies, but I’ve wanted to start capturing more rounded portraits if that makes sense (to photographers it does). Long focal lengths flatten out the subject. These shots felt good. I really enjoyed what Charles did with kneeling. It made for a cozy feel between him the ground and backdrop.

Cons, based on what my gut was wanting: They are way too close to the backdrop. I’d like to not see their shadow behind them in the future. I had too much light. My soft box is way too big for my studio space. I’d love to get a smaller one and use much less light/softer light in the future. The real critique on this is: it’s time to stop being afraid of flash and using a remote/radio trigger. Using a flash on a bracket, I can probably control the light, its density and spill a lot better.

Here’s to more practice, and getting comfortable and confident. I have a feeling that the more I practice, the less I’ll say. And the less I say about the shots, the more others will probably like them.