When I experience something great, I just have to share it with ya’ll… And Out of Frame Production Rentals and Studio in Los Angeles is just so over the top incredible that I’m not sure I can even say enough.

I was introduced to Out of Frame via Jasmine Star’s Blog. She did an amazing shoot of her twin sister Bianca there and I fell in love with the natural light in the location and the darling modern furniture they have. While I was confident that I could not achieve the kind of awe-inspiring images Jasmine creates so effortlessly, I was hopeful that stealing her location would help.

So I shot an e-mail over to Chris at Out of Frame and was pleasantly surprised to receive a return call from him right away. We scheduled a time and I lived on pins and needles the following days in anticipation of my first “In-Studio” shoot. The plan was to shoot some promo photos for Fotoworks using my cousin Kelsey as a model and in trade for her time, I would shoot some “senior” pictures of her to use when she graduates from Texas A&M this December. My friend (and amazing DJ) Derek would join us so I could take some promo shots of him to use on his website that he is redoing using BluDomain.

When we pulled into their parking lot Saturday morning, I opened up my camera bag and realized I had made a BIG mistake: I had cleared off my CF cards that morning, but LEFT THEM ON MY COUNTER. Just when the panic was about to set in, my eyes fell upon the hero for the day: Calumet. Out of Frame and Calumet share a parking lot. I was in heaven. I ran in, bought a new Sandisk CF card and was out of there in less than 3 minutes. Many thanks to the great staff at Calumet Los Angeles for their enthusiastic attitudes and helpful spirits. If you’re interested in renting extra equipment for your shoot, Out of Frame can place an order for you at Calumet and have your equipment waiting for you in the stage when you arrive.

When we walked into Out of Frame, the fabulous staff showed us all around their amazing studio, offered us refreshments, asked us if there was any way in which they could help and then left us to our own devices. Once alone in the big white room, myself and my two subjects for the day stared in awe of the amazing space before us and couldn’t wait to get started.

Being girls, Kelsey and I ran straight back into their killer dressing room. With hollywood style vanities, an iMac for use (and wifi for laptops) and the most incredible orange couch ever, the dressing room was, in itself, one of the highlights of the day. Feeling a bit like a supermodel putting on make-up in that lighted mirror really helped Kelsey get in the game for shooting. And checking out some hot pics of Matthew McConnaughey in one of the magazines in there during a break between shooting helped her smile and relax.

If you’ve never shot in studio before, I highly recommend choosing Out of Frame for their excellent natural light available. Their blog speaks of a “magic hour” that happens in late afternoon and I can’t wait to book another time slot there to check that out. We felt like we hit a “magic hour” when it came to lighting around 11:30. But all morning I was thrilled with the light available.

We started with the promo photos for some Fotoworks stuff in the works:

Once we finished with that, I alternated between shooting Kelsey and Derek as both had brought several outfits and it gave each a chance to rest their smiles. They were great “cheerleaders” for each other as they prompted one another to smile bigger, laugh, relax and just enjoy the time in front of the lens.

Derek wanted a very clean look to his images so his new website (coming soon!) would be able to stand out from the pack. We found a beautiful little patch of light by one of the windows and he set up his gear.

I wanted to give Kelsey a huge selection of poses and expressions to choose from and I think we accomplished that for her. She is so beautiful and was a fantastically good sport throughout the shoot. Check out how much air she gets on her jump shot!

If you’ve never shot in studio, do it! It will break you out of your comfort zone, give you new images to put in your portfolio and maybe even completely refresh the way you look at your photography.

Again, a HUGE thanks goes to the owners and staff at Out of Frame for letting me have my first In Studio experience as well as for helping us achieve amazing promo images for our site. I cannot wait to get another chance to shoot in your fabulous location and work with you again.

Cheers, Katie Johnson