Shooting cars at The Studio

This week I had the chance to shoot a car in my new studio. Having done a lot of automotive photography, I knew just what I wanted as the new studio was created. As I moved the test car into the studio I could see that everything had come together just as I wanted.

The lighting was everything I had hoped it would be. This shot gave me just what I wanted using the standard configuration.



I plan on doing a lot more automotive photography in future in the studio. Location work falls off so much here in Phoenix during the summer due to the heat. Now I can do the shoots in the studio while I enjoy the air conditioning.

The only thing that I will be adding is some hydraulic car wheel dollies to make positioning the car easier. With them if the photographer needs to rotate the car and inch or two it is a quick job to do as opposed to trying to drive the car back and forth to get it perfect.

The Studio is available for rental to other photographers.

Orcatek Photography

The Studio – Phoenix

The Studio is now open

The Studio is officially open for business. We built the Studio so that photographers could rent a studio with the features to create amazing work without paying for all the flashy stuff that doesn’t pay the bills. With today’s tight economy, photographers need to watch their budgets very close. The Studio is the answer to their needs.

We have four primary shooting areas available for rent. Each bay was created to fit the varied needs of a photographer. Why rent what you don’t need. Of course if you need more we have that too.

The first bay is a large cyclorama which is 20x36. Plenty big for photographing cars and large groups. With two cove corners to allow the photographer to work with ease.

The second bay is a small cyclorama which is 18 feet wide. The bay extends back 23 feet. Perfect for fashion photography.

Bays three and four are what we call our standard bays. They are 18 feet wide and 23 feet deep. Bring your own backdrops or rent our seamless papers.

The bays can be draped off for privacy as needed.

Located on the Tempe / Scottsdale / Phoenix border, it is the perfect location.

It took a lot of time and effort to build The Studio, but it was worth it. We have already had photographers come in from Los Angeles and they said it was just what they needed – affordable quality and functionality. Exactly what we had in mind.

The Studio – Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale and the rest of Arizona

Studio Construction Continues

Studio construction continues as we race towards a May 1 completion. Painting is scheduled to begin Wednesday on the main studio. The lobby is scheduled for paint today.

So many things to get done, power, internet, alarms, audio systems, new locks, moving equipment, new furniture, permits, etc. Slowly but surely it moves on. We have our first scheduled shoot for May 2, sure hope we are ready!

BTW, if you need a great drywall guy in Phoenix, message me and I can hook you up.

Orcatek Photography - Phoenix

Skylights in the Studio

The new studio is still in progress with the build out, but I couldn’t resist testing out the skylights to see if they were going to be as nice as I had hoped. They were better than I had hoped. Simply set the camera up - ISO 400, F5.6, 1/60 and shoot away.

Lots of freedom of movement around the studio area as the pool of light is very large. The skylights themselves are 4x8 and about 21 feet above the floor.


This sample shot is pretty much straight out of camera. I just cropped and reduced it in Photoshop.

We are still on schedule for a May 1 opening of The Studio. Back to the work to make sure everything gets done.

Orcatek Photography - Phoenix, Arizona

Couples Boudoir

Boudoir photography of a couple presents a whole new set of challenges. Each of them can be overcome by the photographer. Many of these issues are the same in a multi-person photograph, but some are more specific to boudoir and glamour.

Lighting multiple people is always a challenge, but boudoir tends to use much more dramatic lighting than your typical portrait. More shadows from direction light. Often the couple will be facing each other so care must be taken by the photographer to keep one of the faces from falling too far into shadow. I always use the main light on the woman’s face, the guy is secondary. Here I may use a fill card to bounce some light, or a fill light with various modifiers to keep the light from hitting parts I wanted in shadow.

Posing the couple also adds some challenges. First you always make sure that she looks great. Then he is posed to work with her body. The limited to lack of clothing also adds a few challenges. In my studio, no shots can show genitalia, poses must always conceal. Additionally clients may have other levels of modesty to preserve in the photographs. Sometimes it is a movement of a fraction of an inch of an arm or a leg to provide the needed coverage. Always checking through the viewfinder as they move from pose to pose, it takes a careful eye to keep the shots perfect.

Probably the most difficult challenge is the interaction portrayed in the photographs themselves. The photographer has to work to create a sensual image without it looking like something from an adult entertainment site. The best inspiration comes from fashion magazines, where they often show couples posed sexy but not trashy. The emotions I work to evoke from my clients are desire, love and passion, but avoid lust.

I have found boudoir couples sessions to be an emerging trend. I have been getting more and more questions about this type of photography. Hopefully the trend will continue, as the couples who choose to do boudoir together tend to be great fun to work with.

Orcatek Boudoir Photography – Phoenix, AZ

Nervous Nancy Does Boudoir

I got a call a few weeks ago from Nancy about doing a boudoir photo shoot for her future husband. She said that she had thought about calling before but got too nervous. This time she said she wanted to at least find out what boudoir photography was all about. I explained that boudoir was about finding the beauty that everyone has bringing it out in photographs.

I asked what her concerns were and she talked about how she wasn’t a model and didn’t have a perfect figure. I discussed how with posing in lighting we would make her look great. I explained how people in magazines look in print and in real life. She said she would like to come in and see some samples.

Nancy came to the studio and we reviewed the options and looked over my work. I showed her some before and after images of other shoots (I have permission to show these, privacy is important). After seeing this and talking more about her desires, she decide a book would be the perfect package. We scheduled her for last week.

She arrived at the shoot and was very nervous. She had brought a friend as we had discussed to help her change. Heather did Nancy’s hair and make-up as we chatted about various topics she began to relax a bit. I looked at her wardrobe and started planning the shoot sequence to minimize set changes.

As Nancy stepped in front of the camera I could see was nervous. I posed to show her what I wanted her to do. Me posing like a sexy woman always helps to break the ice. I took a few frames and showed her how she looked. Her friend took a look and told her she looked amazing, Nancy thought so too. Her nerves melted and we continued shooting.

I would stop every once in a while and show her how the shoot was progressing. Each time Nancy would just love the shots. Her friend flipped through my “idea” book and showed her some poses she should do. With her confidence at a high she agreed quickly and changed to an outfit for the new poses.

By the end of the shoot Nancy said she was having the best time. She said she can’t believe how relaxed I made her feel in such a short time. She had no idea boudoir photography would be so fun. Her friend decided she was going to come back next week to get some boudoir photographs for her husband.

Nancy called me after getting the proofs and said they looked even better than she imagined, and they haven’t even been retouched. She said it was going to be hard to pick just the photographs for her book. She asked if she could come back to do some more when her first anniversary comes around. How could I refuse?

Orcatek Boudoir Photography – Phoenix, Arizona

Professional Make-up for Photography

Professional make-up for your photo shoot has many benefits for both the client and the photographer. I include make-up services in a lot of my packages and in others I let the client decide.

There are several benefits to the photographer. First is the reduction in the amount of time spent retouching. A good make-up artist (MUA) can make their skin look almost perfect. Additionally they keep the shine off the skin that some people get on their faces (both men and women). I hate retouching the shine off skin.

Now even if a client knows how to do their make-up (many are quite good), a professional MUA will be able to do things beyond this. Airbrushing the skin is one technique that yields awesome results that they provide. Additionally a MUA will be able to create specialized looks that fall outside the range of normal make-up. Classic pin-up is an example; another would be fashion make-up for model portfolios.

One of the benefits to my clients is how easy it is to just come to the studio and have everything handled for them. Many find it very relaxing to have their make-up done for them. We chat and joke around and get to know each other before the shoot. This puts the client at ease prior to the shoot, settling some of those pre-shoot jitters.

The MUA’s that I work with also travel to my location shoots. My clients love it when everything comes to them to make their shoot special. We’ve gone to client’s homes, hotels and even the middle of the desert. Every time the results were worth it.

Many MUA’s work in salons in addition to working with photographers. I have a team of MUA’s that I have used that provide incredible work. Having several on my team allows me to always have proven talent available when needed.

Orcatek Photography - Phoenix