Meet Our Resident Artists

October 4, 2017

There is a great lineup of talent that we have at The Production Studio. We love the creativity that comes out of our spaces and not just in the various productions and photographers, models and MUAs that come through our spaces.

Here are all 8 bios of the resident artists who produce great work every day Paul Buceta, Rick Oliver Fitness Photography, Pires Photography, Figura Nua. Steve Roberts, RJA Photography, Billy Vasilios and Rayven Martinez. We have all of these profiles now hanging up in the common area of the studio to showcase who they are, their talent and their work.

If you want to inquire about our residency program, take a look online at www.productionstudio.ca/residency

WHY SHOULD YOU AS A PHOTOGRAPHER HAVE INSURANCE

September 27, 2017

Nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes. As photographers, we are expected to be both an artist and a service to the public. There’s always going to be a chance that your client is going to be so difficult, uncooperative, or possibly vindictive if they feel as though you’re not up to their expectations for whatever reason.

It is for this reason that every professional photographer should have their own liability insurance to protect themselves from being taken advantage of.

How Liability Insurance can Save You

If you’re getting a steady flow of work and you consider yourself to be fairly busy as a photographer, you will eventually encounter a situation where you have to make changes and cannot commit to a scheduled photoshoot. If your client doesn’t take kindly to this suggestion, they may turn on you and decide to sue you for a breach in contract, which they could win if you don’t have anything that states the ability to cancel at any time prior to the appointment.

Insurance can save you from being sued for a client’s negligence, too. Like, if they were to trip into a piece of your equipment and hurt themselves. Liability insurance can also cover you if for whatever reason your camera malfunctions and either ruins or renders the customer’s images unrecoverable.

Every potential scenario where things could go wrong, at no fault of your own, should be accounted for, because there are plenty of people out there who try to take advantage of small businesses and avoid having to share whatever losses incurred due to an accident.

Weighing your Options

While these things do happen, it ought to be noted that an occurrence like this is extremely uncommon, as a general rule you have most likely better chances winning the lottery, however, they do happen and in this manner it is imperative that you are not left exposed after a bad turn of events.

Still not persuaded? The other thing liability insurance can help with is damage to other’s property. This would cover you on the off chance that you harmed another person's property while doing your job. For instance, you could incline toward a divider and push a portion of it over with your weight as you are taking the photo! The fact that the divider was not sufficiently secure is no assurance in the courts. You would be in charge of the repair to it - all things considered, the client would contend that the property was fine before you stepped into it!

A straightforward mishap like this could cost hundreds, maybe thousands - something that could also leave a mark on your career, too. You can do your best to avoid doing business with people who seem unreasonable or suspicious, but there’s no guarantee that you won’t run a streak of bad luck and end-up losing a ton of sleep, money, and possibly business over an honest mistake while trying your best.

Photography Tips on Shooting Drinks w/ Pires Photography

September 20, 2017

If you’ve ever done any product photography or casual foodie snapshots, you might be thinking that photographing beverages is a pretty straight-forward process, but you would be wrong, of course. Those commercials of mouth-watering Sprite, Coors, and so-forth are pretty involved.

Shooting glasses filled with drinks is an even more layered beast. The obvious challenge here is capturing enough light to highlight the condensation, but also keeping the picture balanced and not too overwhelmed with bright lights bouncing all over. Use some of these tips to help you navigate this foreign landscape with your camera and take great shots of your favorite booze and drinks.

Manage Primary Light

In order to get the best illumination of your glass’ contents, you’re going to want to place your primary light source behind your glass and the position of your camera. This keeps the light a bit more manageable and you can better adjust the amount you need in order to bring out the details of the drink and glass.

Create Ambience

Just snapping photos on a colored or textured background isn’t enough to really grab the attention of the viewer, you’re going to want to add a bit of color that can enhance the presence of the drink. This works really well with little flavor suggestions to go with the drink, like a little lemon or lime, so you can add an accent light behind the drink to give it a nice “pop” against the background.

Featuring Ingredients

To borrow off the last tip, a nice way to break up uniformity in a product photo like this is to lay out small samples of the ingredients that are used in the production of the drink. You could add them in later with post-production, but it’s very charming to go through the extra effort of picking a few pieces of barley, cherries, or vanilla beans, for example, to lay beside the cold, tasty glass and evoke those flavors subconsciously in the viewer.

Try out different Containers

Unless you have your own branded glasses that the customer can purchase, it’s a good idea to present your beverage in a container that best compliments the personality of your beverage. You don’t want your drink to be associated with “average” or “boring” cups that you can find in any grandma’s cupboard. Be creative and take a few shots with various containers, you never know how they’ll look.

Get Frosty

You want an insider secrete on how to get the perfect amount of condensation on your glass without having to wait for it to naturally happen? Place your glass into the freeze ten minutes before your shoot, then pour your beverage and watch as the cold exterior collects with little beads of thirst-motivators. Everyone loves an ice cold drink.

Let Loose

Don’t think too hard about your photoshoot. Nerves can ruin a photo more than forgetting to bring a specific light or prop. When you’re in a creative and playful mood, you get results that may surprise yourself, because you’ll be thinking about what a customer would love to see, not what is purely technically sound or advised.

GALLERY OF RECENT WORK FROM PIRES PHOTOGRAPHY

81 Entertainment Produces Commercial - Gets Honourable Mention in Ad Week

September 13, 2017

We have been fortunate to have 81 Entertainment produce great content in our spaces. 81 Entertainment is Toronto’s premier video production service company specializing in commercial production and branded content. Trusted by small businesses and large international brands alike, 81 Entertainment’s range of expertise ensures each client receives the best in concept design and execution.

81 Entertainment received its (first!) honourable mention in AdWeek with one of the commercials they produced for Cougarlife.com earlier this year using almost all of our spaces.

Sets were built throughout the spaces creating a club, bedroom, bathroom and powder room.

Click here to read the full article on AdWeek - Cougar Life’s Rebrand Tells Women That Dating Younger Men Is Grrreat!

With the highest five to Director Jared Pelletier, Creative Director Justine Galea, Co-Producer Michael Chwastiak, DOP Chris Lew, Production Manager Joel P. Schneider, and Production Designer Lewis Belgum. Along with The Production Studio Ashley Hallihan Ontario Camera Rentals, alter ego amongst so many other talented individuals.

Some Great Video has Been Produced in Our Spaces

September 12, 2017

We have been fortunate to have some great productions shoot in our spaces over the past year. There have been commercials, music videos, web series, The Beaverton and small indie projects.

Here is a story that was published on Notable of a Toronto couple that broke up by creating a powerful video. This project was filmed in Studio 3.

THEY DECIDED TO DO THE PIECE TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS – SOMETHING MOST OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED BY NOW IN OUR DATING LIVES.

“After several months of being apart and growing individually, I contacted her about an idea: to put rest to our past and create our own blank slate. We’re both performers and love Sia, so we decided to do our own piece to her song, Eye of The Needle,” writes Wadden. “This piece is inspired by our own past, Sia, and Marina Abramovic’s ‘The Lovers’.”

WATCHING THE POWERFUL VIDEO WILL REMIND MANY OF US OF A PAST RELATIONSHIP, AND THE MADDENING ROLLERCOASTER OF CONTRADICTORY EMOTIONS IT CAN BRING.

We Welcome Resident Artist RJA

September 7, 2017

Feeling like there was more to life than an intensive job and private family life, a chance google search found a workshop at The Production Studios that rekindled my love of photography.

Attending many many many.... many workshops, I was able to understand and breakdown the details needed to elevate myself from amateur hobbyist to a passionate artist that aspires to eventually rise up as a true professional photographer (some day!).

I enjoy many genres within photography and have produced many photos that I am proud of. Initially, head / beauty shots captivated me. Curiosity eventually rolled into boudoir and fine art. Now, I am taking my interests and focusing on Fashion to see what I can produce.

Should anyone wish to collaborate on future projects, please feel free to contact me.

Samples of RJA's Work

We Welcome Resident Artist Stephen Roberts

September 6, 2017

As photographers we live for freezing the moment. My passion in photography is for defrosting the moment. Rather than everything being completely sharp and frozen in time. I love to show movement and dreaminess and a sense of the surreal.

Being a dance dad, this is one of the reasons I was attracted to this art form, as well as long exposure landscapes and seascapes. I love to drag the shutter. I could be quite happy shooting for the rest of my life with shutter speeds of a second or longer…..

I am a huge lover of portrait photography. Sitting down with my subject conversing and trying to create a real emotional connection and pose from my sitter is an art form which is a wonderful challenge that I enjoy immensely. A great emotional portrait is not made in camera but on either side of it. One of my favourite portrait photographers Yousuf Karsh says it best: “When one sees the residuum of greatness before ones camera one must recognize it in a flash. There is a brief moment when all that there is in a man’s mind and soul and spirit may be reflected through his eyes, his hands, his attitude. This is the moment to record. This is the elusive moment of truth.

I am a resident photographer at The Production Studio in Mississauga. I am currently booked for my dance series and portraits shoots till October 2017. But I am always looking for models and professional dancers for my creative projects. If you are interested in collaborating with me I would love to hear from you….Visit my site www.floto.ca and book your shoot today.

Samples of Stephen's Work

Back in Our Studios - PETER HURLEY - The Headshot Intensive Toronto

August 15, 2017

A 2 day headshot knowledge infusion extravaganza! Want to go Intensified? Add a 3rd day to the mix and really dig into your portrait shtick.

This course is designed for every level photographer from amateur to pro as long as you understand camera basics, this isn't a technique course in camera settings, but a mind blowing course in handling any subject that has stepped into your frame. Yes, the workshop is geared toward headshot photography, but all of this stuff applies whether your subject is 3 feet in front of your camera or 30 feet in front of it, so I believe any portrait photographer needs to utilize this information as part of their director's toolkit whenever shooting portraits. Although I believe the information is ground breaking, any photographer at any level will truly benefit from attending.

purchase on this workshop on peter's website

In this workshop you’ll learn the in’s and out’s of my workflow, direction, shooting style and business sense. It's a soup to nuts approach on how to crank out one good portrait after another. We’ll immerse ourselves completely into the action as we apply these ideas in order to enhance your shooting style and up your game immensely.

In a nutshell, THE HEADSHOT INTENSIVE is designed for the photographer looking to gain beneficial knowledge from the leader in the headshot genre in order to develop a new skill set when photographing people. So whether photography is your full time gig or you are a passionate hobbyist who can’t seem to put your camera down, this workshop is for you.

The Headshot Intensive is also the breeding ground for my team of talented Headshot Crew Associate Photographers. We've launched a global initiative to create an elite crew of headshot photographers worldwide. Interested? Sign up for a free account now. Anyone can register and if you upgrade into my Protégé Core Coaching Program you'll receive a 30 Day Free Trial. All photographers who take the workshop will get six months free(approx $120 value) in the Headshot Crew Protégé Coaching group and earlybirds(the first 4 people to sign up) will get a year free.($199 value) Those interested in becoming a Headshot Crew Associate photographer will work closely with Peter to create a portfolio worthy for inclusion into the Headshot Crew Associate Photographer Program for their target market.

Some Topics Include:

• Lighting Hurley-Style

• My belief in being 90% Therapist and 10% Photographer

• The necessity of being a Jack of All Trades

• Performing The Chameleon Approach

• Applying Sherlock Holmesing to the mix

• Digging into Micro-Expression

• Creation of Residual Laughter

• Direction by Mis-Direction

• Hurleyisms

• The HURLEY Headshot System of directing your client from shot to shot

• The Shoot: You’ll apply the ideas laid out to you by applying these ideas on the second day of the workshop. Game Plan & Business Know How: Building a road map to develop your business

• Pricing your work into your target market and ground rules for handling your customer service. The Final Product: Retouching, printing and delivery of the final product.

• Headshot Crew: Peter will discuss his global plan and your shot to capture your target market by becoming a Headshot Crew Associate photographer. The goal is to have each photographer that is interested in building their headshot business become part of the Headshot Crew referral program, using it as a marketing tool to build their headshot clientele through referrals from their own Headshot Crew micro-site.

What You'll Need:

A DSLR, mirrorless or medium format digital camera and basic knowledge of how to use that camera. You’ll want a decent headshot lens to go along with it, so I generally like a minimum of 85mm for full frame DSLR’s and 100mm and above for medium format cameras. Generally I roll with a 70-200mm on my full frame DSLR, so have something that can hit that range if you are on a zoom or a prime in that neighborhood.Everyone should bring a laptop and/or external hard drive with them to the workshop in case you want to shoot tethered, take notes or transfer files, etc. I love shooting on a tripod, so if you have one that can reach above 6' then bring it along with a nice ball head. If you don't then don't sweat it, but I'm going to be giving you umpteen reasons why you should be using one. You can check out my gear page for my recommended Feisol/Arca Swiss combo: www.headshotcrew.com/gear

We've had everyone from beginner to professional go through this workshop and the ideas presented are so unique that they work for everyone no matter how far along you are in your career. Get a good nights sleep prior to coming up to the intensive! We usually go from 10am in the morning until lunchtime, come back and do a session until dinnertime. After dinner we'll come back and keep the info pouring in until around 10 or 11pm. The second day runs from 10am to 6pm. We do break for lunch and will be shooting all afternoon, so be ready for a busy weekend. No food is included with the workshop fee. Cost and Scheduling:

The price for attending this phenomenal weekend workshop is $1500 and payment is due in full when signing up. ALL PAYMENTS ARE IN US DOLLARS.

It’s an amazing value for anyone interested in taking their portrait photography to new heights. However, I want to add even more value for those attending:

The Real Deal:

• Any photographer that is one of the first 4 to sign up for any Intensive will receive an earlybird bonus of one free year on headshotcrew.com at the Protégé level.($199 value) If you are wondering if you qualify for this just ask. Don't worry, if you don't make the cut all additional attendees will receive 6 months free.(approx $120 value)

• All participants will receive a promo code for 1/2 off THE ART BEHIND THE HEADSHOT DVD and/or Illuminating the Face download($150 value each).

• B&H has sponsored the workshop, so we will be giving away at random one $50 gift card to a lucky participant from my favorite store on planet earth.

Get your own Headshot by Peter Hurley! Each photographer will get in front of my camera at some point during the workshop and I'll personally shoot a SHABANG'in headshot of you. I can't stand photographers who don't put a nice shot of themselves on their about or bio page, so I'm making sure each of you have one! You'll get a unique perspective from being in front of my camera as well. This allows you to understand exactly what your clients are going through and it's proven to be a powerful experience. It has been one of my favorite portions of the course and a real eye opener for past attendees, plus it's $2000 for a new client to step in front of my lens, so there is definitely some major value in it for you there! All Headshot Intensive upon graduating will be dubbed a Bachelor in the Fine Art of Shabanging(BFAS) in the Headshot Crew Coaching Program! Prepare to be added to this prestigious group that have attended the workshop. The BFAS label and any free months you are to receive as an attendee will be added after you've completed the workshop.

My goal for the course is that each photographer receives a tremendous amount of value out of taking the workshop, so if you have any questions whatsoever, feel free to contact me personally at 212.627.2210. Use the links on the right to register for your desired workshop and lock in any promotions you may receive.

In case you are interested The Headshot Intensified is an added extra 3rd day where you spend time with me one on one in order to drive all these concepts home. It that costs an additional $750 and limited to only 8 photographers. Feel free to add the extra day to your cart or feel free to sign up for it separately if you have previously taken The Headshot Intensive.

I feel strongly that the workshop is appropriately named, so I hope you are ready for an INTENSE weekend of non-stop information coming your way!

I'll be emailing you with ant other logistics for the weekend during the week preceding your chosen workshop, should you have any questions beforehand definitely reach out to me via email or call the studio.

No food is included with the workshop fee. We go out to a local restaurant for lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.

Due to workshops selling out regularly we require payment in full in order to keep your spot and snag any time sensitive discounts. All payments are non-refundable, so don't give me your $ until you are certain you are ready to roll!However, should you need to reschedule, inform me at least at least 2 weeks prior to your scheduled intensive and I will apply your fee toward the workshop of your choice in the future or figure out something that is fair for both of us. I usually have a waiting list, so if something comes up that causes the need for you to cancel then chances are we'll get your spot filled right away and I'll be able to provide you a refund if that is the case.

So, are you ready to get serious about your people photography?

Get it going, each workshop is limited to ONLY 12 photographers plus I have 1 spot for those who can't get enough of me and want to take it for 1/2 price a second time, so grab a spot as soon as you decide you are ready to roll! All my workshops have been selling out, so don't get caught on the short end of the stick. Those who want to take it a 2nd time and grab that spot for 1/2 off just contact me before registering.

Reserve your spot today!
Simply click the button on the right the corresponds to your desired workshop to register by firing up a credit card.

Questions? Feel free to email us or call the studio at 212.627.2210. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, I want everyone to be 100% informed prior to coming to the workshop.

I am traveling the world with the workshop, so sign up for your desired venue and as soon as a studio is secured we'll be letting everyone know where we'll be.

If you are coming to NYC here's my NY studio address:

Peter Hurley Photography Studio
134 W 26th Street, Suite 1203
New York, NY 10001

We start each day at 10am in the NY studio for Headshot Intensives outside NYC I will be emailing you with logistics.

The closest hotels are right on 26th Street between 6th & 7th Aves:

The Hilton New York Fashion District

Holiday Inn Manhattan 6th Ave - Chelsea

Looking forward to seeing you at The Headshot Intensive!

Thanks!
Peter

Signature Series | BTS of Our First Big Workshop

February 6, 2017

Take a look at the BTS of the first collaboration between photographers William Riquelme, Sean Lyn and Pires Photography. We have another workshop coming up on February 26th. This is one that you won't want to miss.

Check us out online at www.productionstudio.ca/workshops or on our meetup group www.meetup.com/ProdStudioTO

We officially kicked off the new space with a weekend of amazing workshops. Thanks to @cmr_photog for the video of the big day. 3 models, 2 MUAs, 3 workshop organizers and 23 photographers filled our 3 spaces Thank you to Pires Photography, Sean Lyn Photography, William Riquelme Photography who were the workshop facilitators.

We Welcome Rayven Martinez - Resident Artist

February 1, 2017

Filmmaker + Fashion/Fine Art Photographer and Cinematographer in Toronto, Canada.
(Fashion, Editorial and Commercial)

Rayven’s love for imagery began with a Canon A1 in High School shooting for Yearbook Yearly and School Sport Meets. After Graduating High School he had upgraded to a Canon 10's 35mm SLR with Prime Lenses started shooting Events. He had taken Art Workshops in his early 20's from Painting to Sculptor. Since those fledgling days, Rayven expanded his horizons to the Film Industry and found himself Directing, Managing and Producing Videos, while maintaining his passion for Photography. He has work for Grants such as BravoFact, MuchFact, OAC (Ontario Art Coucil), The Canada Council for the Arts, Tele Film and OMDC (Ontario Media Developement Corporation).Some of his clients include: Sony, Visa, Samsung, Rogers and TIFF.

On the side, this shutterbug can be found watching films from his Criterion Collection, Animations by Studio Ghibli and Tim Burton. He loves Horror movies from Director Dario Argento's Films, to Old Classics to New. A Collector of Vintage Films and Cameras, his most current set includes a Horseman VCC Converter Tilt-Shift and Polaroid SLR 680.

Rayven knows how to stay on the Budget learning from working as Producer and Production Manager on Commercials and Music Videos. He also knows how to work on a pressure specially important Deadlines!

Written by Roseanne Dela Rosa Ricasio (Editor Wedding Bell)

For inquiries please contact: Rayven@rayvenphotography.com
Website: www.Rayvenphotography.com (Under Construction)
Porfolio: www.500px.com/Rayven

SAMPLE WORK

Signature Series | BTS w/ Della Pham & Pires Photography

January 19, 2017

Take a look at the BTS video with Della Melinda Pham and Pires Photographyy at The Production Studio as they help to design and create amazing portfolio images for photographers.

Thank you to everyone who came out and made the day such a success. We are looking forward to the next collaboration between these two photographers in our spaces on Sunday, January 29th. For more information visit www.productionstudio.ca/workshops or sign up on our meetup page www.meetup.com/ProdStudioTO

The Headshot Intensive Toronto March 2017

January 17, 2017

The Production Studio is excited to announce that world renowned photographer Peter Hurley will be bringing SHABANG! to our studios in March.

PHOTOGRAPHER

Peter Hurley is a premier portrait and headshot photographer with studios in New York City and Los Angeles. He is known for the genuine expressions he captures in his actors headshots and executive portraits.

EDUCATOR

He is an expert on human facial expression and has spoken on the subject for TEDx, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Adobe and GoDaddy to name a few. Peter is also a Canon Explorer of Light and teaches his signature photography workshops all over the world. He is the author of the recently published book The Headshot the definitive guide to headshot photography.

SIGN UP

You can sign up via the buttons below linking to the two events at our studios and check out the video for more information.

THE HEADSHOT INTENSIVE - MARCH 11-12

The Headshot Intensified - March 13

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