Community over COVID-19
Blok Studio will be closed for the month of April in order to comply with Gov. Ducey’s shelter-in-place order. We’re taking these measures to help protect our community, both our clients and our employees. Nothing is more important to us. Full refunds will be given to all existing appointments. We know that the Phoenix creative community is resilient, and we are looking forward to serving you again as soon as it’s deemed safe.
It’s through these unfortunate times that community is vital and supporting each other is even more vital. We’ve listed a few helpful links below that explain the recently approved CARES Act. This bill gives us small businesses and freelancers more resources to survive through this uncertain time. Things such as freelancers, gig workers, and contractors being eligible for unemployment benefits, forgivable business loans, and payroll tax deferral. Please read through the information below and seek professional counsel when necessary.
Benefits of The Pre-Light
Not all productions are created equal and time is always of the essence. If you've worked on any major (or minor) commercial project, you most certainly understand how important the schedule is, especially when tied into a budget. With so many different crews working, variables to consider and decisions to make, it's relatively easy to fall behind schedule and the amount of time you'll have for problem-solving is limited. The last thing you'll want to hear as a photographer is, "How much more time do you need." This is why Pre-Lighting is essential.
Pre-Lighting is to light your set or scene before the start of the official shoot. It's usually just you and your crew onset, staging, and testing lighting, working through problems and discussing the workflow. That lighting concept you had in mind may not be suitable for this scenario; maybe there's a distracting shadow or glare that you didn't foresee occurring, maybe the setup needs to be modified to be more safer onset. Each shoot comes with its own set of problems, pre-lighting allows you to identify and eliminate these problems when time is less of a priority.
Not all jobs will accommodate a pre-light day, nor is one necessary for all situations. Sometimes you get a whole day, other times you get a few hours, a lot of the time even less. A pre-light will allow everyone to reach maximum potential during the most crucial parts of the production and you'll have more time to focus on your subject, and getting the shots needed.
To help, we’ve included a checklist that includes things we consider while working through a pre-light day.If you’re interested in expanding your skillset on lighting, please see details about our upcoming lighting class.
Pre-Light Checklist:
✔️Are my strobes powerful enough for the results I need? Things to consider power output, recycle time, battery life, flash duration.
✔️Do I have supplemental gear to in case we need to add light to specific areas?
✔️Do I need to add gels to manage color?
✔️Do I have all the lighting modifiers I need? Consider the desired quality of light, hard, soft, directional.
✔️Do I need any grids or additional diffusion to control the light even more?
✔️Are my modifiers right for the effect I need?
✔️Do I have flags, cutters, and fill cards to add and block light?
✔️Do I have enough grip to build my set up?
✔️Does this lighting align with the art direction?
✔️Does the lighting meet the needs of post-production?
✔️Can this setup be manageable on shoot day?
✔️What is the power requirements for my setup, and will I have enough onset?
✔️Test all camera gear to ensure everything is operating correctly.
✔️Do I have enough batteries and sufficient charging capabilities for all devices? Laptops, Triggers, Cameras, Light meters, etc
✔️Create 1-2 contingency plans for lighting.
Your brand identity is holding you back.
Hi, Thomas Ingersoll here. I'm a commercial and advertising photographer in Phoenix, Arizona. I am taking over Blok's blog this week and want to share something that has changed how I get clients, and how clients perceive me.
This week I want to talk about the importance of being a brand and having a strong identity. Now, this may seem like a no-brainer, but it is commonly overlooked in our industry. In today's climate, it is not enough to be a good photographer. The days of just having a strong portfolio are dead. A photographer must be a brand, an experience if you will. Our market praises brands that create an experience, consistent in their identity, and easily assessable on all platforms. This will garner trust and reliability with your audience; they know what they will get when they come to you. It also conveys that you are willing to put the time in to represent yourself and what you want to share with the world. So where do you start? I will break down the crucial aspects of developing a robust unified identity.
- Start with your work. Align your work with your brand's identity, make sure they compliment each other. If you are a lifestyle photographer, things like your design, font, color, logo, and voice should convey that message. This will help establish your persona before your audience even begins to browse your work.
- Establish what market you are after. Are you pursuing retail, commercial, editorial, etc.? You will want to articulate on your platforms who you are and the type of work you do. I market myself as an advertising and commercial photographer. I make sure on all platforms that I state that. I also make sure my SEO practices relate to those terms.
- Show people who you are. You're a photographer; you should have a beautiful photo of yourself. Keep a consistent biopic across all your platforms.
- Logo. This is usually people's first impression of the type of work you do. Spend some time and make sure your logo represents yourself well.
- Develop a brand color. This will help support your logo and design. People will start to associate your brand with a color, look at companies like H&R Block, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Air BnB.
After establishing your brand identity, apply this across your platforms.
Website
First is your website. This is the staple of your identity. This is where you want to drive traffic to. All marketing attempts should funnel people to your site. Your website should be an experience for your audience, and make it a pleasant and memorable one. Your identity should sing through your site, and make it easy to navigate damnit.
Social Media
Use this free form of marketing to establish your voice, identity and accessibility. Have a unified bio pic. Market yourself to a specific audience. Drive people to your website.
Consider what you post, make sure it relates to what you're photography.
Instagram is great for a personality. Share your BTS, technical info, and your portfolio. Don't be afraid to some personal experiences here.
This is a great space to share links and stories. Be involved in communities. Keep personal stuff to a personal account.
Great to find a network of professionals. Share your stories.
Use this platform to share BTS and links. Almost a mix of Instagram and Facebook.
Business cards and mailers
Don't ignore the world that exists outside of the internet. Print is still a very crucial aspect of marketing and identity. I love using leave behinds and business cards for more professional settings. Make sure that the design of your cards, print portfolio, and leave behinds are all an extension of your brand.
Conclusion
Throughout my presence I remain consistent. My branded color is a deep red white. My style is minimal with a slight modern touch. All my platforms look the same so my audience knows its me. I state that I'm an advertising/commercial photographer. Implementing a strong brand into my business structure has helped elevate the type of clients I get.
Take a look and ask yourself if you are a strong brand.
Resources
Website - Squarespace
Business Cards and Mailers - Moo
Also be sure to check out Agency Access. They have tons of insightful info on their blog, as well as a team of professionals that can help develop your brand.
Continuing to Live, Learn, and Light
As Blok Studio evolves and grows with our community, our goal is to provide a balance of inspiration and information. To support this purpose, the Blok blog will now be organized by the three words that are at the heart of who we are and what we stand for: live, learn, light.
Live is the Blok lifestyle. We’ll bring you curated playlists, travel highlights, creativity, imagination, and continue our artist profiles in our Around the Blok series.
Learn is founded on our drive to help and teach others that have a story to tell. We’ll share our industry knowledge, gear reviews and how-to’s, and Blok EDU classes. We do this because we believe in community over competition.
Light is the catalyst to life. It’s technical yet abstract, tangible yet elusive. We’ll investigate light in all its beautiful forms. We’ll share guides on lighting equipment and set-ups, cover essays on the philosophy of light, and show all the badass lighting inspiration we can find. Nothing electrifies us more than light.
Join the Blok community and stay tuned for our new content!
Around The Blok. Vol. 4 - Elliott Clark
Elliott is a Phoenix-based photographer, content creator, and social media consultant, and known to many as the Apartment Bartender. His website provides a plethora of cocktail recipes that anyone can enjoy and made simple for those taking their personal bar cart to the next level. Today, we are extremely thrilled to sit down with Elliott for Around The Blok!
1. Tell us about yourself?
I’m Elliott. Chicago born and Arizona raised. I was named after E.T. Fun and outgoing with the right amount of weird. I’m equal parts photographer and home bartender/cocktail enthusiast. I’m at my best when I’m in good company. Food and drink is a big part of my life, as I run a blog dedicated to home bartending how to’s, drink recipes, and the life that goes with it.
2. Why do you do what you do?
I do what I do because I love it. I don’t try to overcomplicate it. As far as what drives me is the need to continue getting better and better. It’s easy for me to get to a point where I feel stagnant, and I hate feeling like I’m not learning or growing or challenging myself in new ways.
3. What benefit does art provide to society?
Art is life.
4. What’s your advice to others chasing their dreams?
I’m a big believer in pursuing what matters most to you, and what makes a difference in the lives of others. If there’s a dream you have that you want to pursue, then pursue it. If it’s not realistic to chase it immediately, then figure out what you have to do to make that dream a reality and do it. It’s cliche but it’s true. When I left my full-time sales job to run Apt. Bartender, I realized there was no magic secret. Taking action is the secret.
5. What is your biggest inspiration and why?
My biggest inspiration comes from traveling. I meet a lot of people, all with unique backgrounds and it’s inspiring to see where people come from and see the cool things they’re doing in their own lives. Hard not to get motivation from that.
6. When you think of home, what comes to mind?
I believe wherever you lay your head can be home. I grew up traveling from an early age, so I don’t view home as a singular place. As long as I have good people around, then wherever I am I see as home.
Budget Friendly Gifts For Photographers.
It's that time of the year again, where your loved ones have started to ask what you'd like for the holidays. You might even be the person asking the question of how you can help a friend or loved one further their photography career. Today we will share some budget-friendly gift ideas to make this holiday season a little bit less stressful!
Productivity.
People often assume that being more productive is simply about getting more done in less time. If you are a productive person, you definitely accomplish more in months than many people do in years, but productivity is more of a way of being. You could be doing less and at the same time, be more productive. What do you think of when you think about ‘being more productive in your life’?
Here are a few tips to make sure you're getting the most out of your day.
Wake Up Early!
Decide what you’d like to accomplish each morning, and build your morning routine off of that. The mornings are a fresh start, peaceful and free of ringing phones and constant email notifications. If you get your most important things done in the morning, the rest of the day is a breeze.
Declutter your workspace!
The decluttering your workspace part of it is simply to remove all extra distractions, on your desk and on your computer. If you’ve got a clean workspace, you can better focus on the task at hand. We often believe we can efficiently multitask, which is false. Work on that one task, and work on it with concentrated focus until you are done. This ensures you are giving your best efforts.
Make a productivity playlist!
Create a playlist that includes lyric-free music and that plays at a medium volume. This can help you stay on task and can even enhance your focus on the task at hand.
Do the tough tasks before lunch!
The task you've been putting off the most is usually the one you should tackle first and we all know which tasks those are. Often when you put things off, they end up being things you don’t really want to do. But sometimes they are things you just gotta do. If you can do them first thing in the morning even better!
Lighting for Large Groups
One of the most common types of images to photograph is the "group photo". Lighting, posing, and communication are all essential skills required to capture a great group image. In this article, we share a few helpful tips.
Lighting
Use large, soft modifiers to evenly light your subjects. The light position should be further away to reduce the severity of falloff and allow it to spread evenly across your subjects.
Posing
If the shot is centered around one or two people, make sure they are the central focal point. For larger, formal group photos place taller individuals centered in the back with shorter people on the edges.
Communication
It's easy to lose control of a group session without effective communication. It's important to keep talking with the group to let them know what you want them to do, motivate them to show emotion and how much time you'll need from them.
Why You Should Be Using A Tripod.
Thomas Ingersoll at Blok Studio's Pierce location.
I'll admit when I started taking photographs I thought tripods were cumbersome. I wanted to move freely while shooting and initially felt tripods would slow down my workflow. Being that photography (Camera, lenses, accessories) can be very expensive, especially when you first start out, I couldn't wrap my mind around spending hundreds of dollars on a tripod. I did what most newbies would do and purchased a cheap tripod that had decent reviews on Amazon. It wasn't long after as my kit grew that I started to realize the importance of having a GOOD tripod. Think about it - you're putting expensive camera gear that you spent your hard earned money on. Outside of making sure you can set your camera up and walk away with confidence, here are a few other benefits for using a tripod.
Low Light Situations.
Tripods are an absolute necessity in low light situations. When you find yourself in a low light situation, you will need to reduce the shutter speed in order to increase light. Unfortunately, reducing the shutter speed means that your camera will be susceptible to camera shake. To ensure that you avoid the blur that may be introduced by your hand movement, a tripod will be essential.
Landscapes.
Landscape photography is one of the most popular types of photography. However, this type of photography typically requires that you use an aperture of at least f/8 and up to f/16 for most of your shots in order to ensure you achieve a wide depth of field that will put everything into clear focus. When you use these aperture settings, they narrow the amount of light coming in. To correct this, you will need either to increase the ISO or reduce the shutter speed so you can get the right exposure for the shot. Be aware that increasing ISO will introduce noise to the image so a good option will be to reduce the shutter speed. Placing your camera on a tripod will ensure you are getting the sharpest images possible by avoiding camera shake.
MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY.
As a food and cocktail photographer, I often take photos that are in close range, any movement in the camera is amplified and much harder to control when holding in your hand. When using my favorite lens the Canon 100mm 2.8 L the depth of field is very thin at its widest apertures, so it’s helpful to use narrower apertures — meaning your shutter speed goes down. In most cases, a tripod is essential in food photography to keep your image in focus and your aperture closed down enough that the whole subject is sharp.
Around The Blok. Vol 1. - Daniel Primero
Phoenix is the 6th largest city in America (Population: 1,563,025), so there's no shortage of talent across the valley. However, Phoenix does tend to have small-town vibe at times. In our new segment "Around The Blok" our goal is to spotlight individuals making an impact on the city's ever-growing creative community. Today, we are thrilled to feature Phoenix-based Photographer, Daniel Primero.
PHOTO BY: Daniel Primero
Favorite Camera:
The Contax G2, people would argue that the autofocus is slow and inaccurate. Using the camera takes a bit of patience. The structure is exactly what I look for in a body, sturdy and simple. The camera partnered with its Carl Zeiss glass has been my go-to for a while now.
Favorite Lens:
The Canon 24-70 2.8. Versatile, fast, and sharp. I don't really care to shoot anything lower than 2.8 and it's really nice to be able to have that option of an ultra wide and portrait lens in one. If I were to have one lens for the rest of my life, the 24-70 would be the choice.
PHOTO BY: Daniel Primero
What is photography to you:
My Pops raised my siblings and I with a camera in his hand. So photography has a bit of a sentimental value to me and that’s how I got started. Other than that, photography is work and play. It’s what pays the bills, but also gives me some sort of solace.
Favorite aspect of Blok:
My favorite thing about Blok, besides the team that runs it, would have to be its versatility. I’ve had clients wanting natural light and strobe work in the same shoot. I’ve always been a big fan of natural light, and Blok has it. The early morning lighting the Van Buren studio offers has created some heavy contrasted and dramatic work. On the other hand, Blok has offered a great space for studio work. I’ve never had an issue with natural light leaking onto the subject when I’m working with strobes. The versatility of both Blok Studios is incredible.
PHOTO BY: Daniel Primero
If you weren't a photographer what would you be:
If I weren’t a photographer, I’d probably still be somewhere in the creative field. If not, then I’d be some sort of small shop owner. I’ve always been into quality goods. My dream has been to have a small shop. Not to make a killing, but to have a place where my friends and I could kick it and talk about our days. A place where the neighborhood kids would come by just to hang out. That kind of hometown hub that you’d see in cinema.
PHOTO BY: Daniel Primero
You can follow Daniel on Instagram HERE