FX Studios

Oh no. It's happened. Twitter is here!

Yep. We finally did it. Here it is - enjoy!

 

FX iPhone App Is Here!

 It's officially available! The FX Studios iPhone, iPod, and iPad app is here and ready to download in the iTunes Store. Download it and let us know what you think. We're adding new content daily, so check it out!

PSU Graphics Department Tour

 

20 Members of the PSU Graphics Art Department visited the studio for nearly 2 hours today. They had arranged to bring a field trip for interested students and faculty to view the studio and listen to me ramble on about photography and our little operation. I think they picked up a lot - I certainly talked a bunch so I hope it was meaningful to at least a few of them! I was told that this was the best turnout they've had for any of their field trips so I hope it was everything they were expecting.

I really enjoy any opportunity to share my love for this industry and to help other photographers find their way in this work. If you represent a school or group that would like to arrange a visit, just give us a call!

They even brought a gift as a thank you for our time. It's a sweet pen with the departments name engraved on the side. Thank you guys for coming to see us and for the wonderful gift!

  

Open House Recap

We are so thankful for all of the support we received from our open house event on Sunday. None of us at the studio were prepared for all of the positive emails, phone calls, and people that came out to see us during the event. Thank you so much for everything!

Despite the nasty weather around 150 brave souls braved the elements to celebrate with us. We had a wonderful spread of food provided by Brent Castagno of Parrot Bey/Corner Bistro and some beautiful floral decorations from The Little Shop of Flowers. We also had some great prizes that were raffled off throughout the evening including 8 iPods and several gift certificates to the studio.

For the grand finale we raffled off the scooter to one of our eligible seniors and Katy Gorentz was the lucky girl who had her number called.

We haven't had time to sift through all of the pictures yet, and the boys will be working on a highlight video to share with you soon.

Thank you again for all of your support. We are truly excited about how the studio renovation is improving the quality and experience we are able to offer our clients.

PHS Football 2009

OMG! These images are amazing! I should just leave it at that...but let me give you a little background info first.

We got these after a recent evening football practice at Pittsburg High School. They asked us to do team pictures and, as usual, Mike's approach was "go big or go home." He did some experimenting with strobe lights at this photo session and the

results are definitely blog-worthy, if you ask me.

Prepare to be amazed people! Enjoy!

Katy

FX Studios Road Trip!

Road trips are always a good time, but road trips with the FX Studios gang are legendary. Last week, our studio packed up for a 4-day trip to Morton, Illinois for a photography workshop called V-Union.

We had so much fun (as you can see from the photo on the left) but we also learned A LOT! Vickie Taufer, owner of V Gallery, hosted a workshop where we shared ideas, successes, failures, and stories. Be looking for a ton of new promotions and packages here at FX Studios. I don't want to spill the beans but...boudoir sessions, Christmas card specials, Girls' Night Out events. That's all I'm going to say.

Besides some fabulous new business ideas, we also ate some amazing food, attempted to complete a ropes course (attempt being the key word!), and told ghost stories around a camp fire.

We're finally getting caught up after out mini-vacation so keep an eye peeled for some fun, new changes here at FX. We're hard at work making FX Studios better than ever.

Stay posted for some new blog postings very soon!

Katy

Our Radio Debut!

We're super excited about our recent debut on local radio station, KRPS. They visited our studio recently to chat with Mike about FX Studios and, more specifically, digital photography. Our fabulous videographer, Roylan, also got to speak about digital video.

I may be partial, but I think our boys did a fantastic job! Click on the link below to have a listen to their 15 minutes of fame!

Katy

Download KRPS_FX_Interview_2009

A Day at the Library

Last week, we escaped from the studio for a day to take a field trip to Girard Public Library. All summer, they've been holding children's programs for elementary school kids around the area and they were nice enough to invite us.

We met with two different groups of kids; the first is above and the second is below. Each group started out by making picture frames and then we talked a little about some of the basic principles of photography. Those kids picked it up quick; we might have some competition on our hands!

Check out the images of the kids with their frames. They all worked really hard and they ended up with some pretty awesome frames. That's Hannah, Lance, and Jacob above (from left to right) and Landen, Danny, Fisher, Joseph, and Chandler below (from left to right). Good job guys! Thanks for a fun day!

Katy

Where in the world is Mike?

Geez. From looking at this blog you'd think I've fallen off the face of the Earth! Never fear - I'm still alive and kicking. I haven't gotten anything posted in what seems like forever so I thought I'd do a little update post to show what I'm working on at the moment and let you know where we are at with the construction.

I can't tell you how excited we all are about the new studio renovations. Jordan and his crew have been working long hours everyday to move us quickly through the process. We've got all the rooms framed up and the plywood flooring is down. The electrician is 95% done and the plumbing is nearly complete. I worked until the wee hours of the night Thursday to get all of the network and video cabling run to the new addition and Jackie met with our interior designer Wednesday to finalize all of the decor. We are completely happy with all of our decisions so far, and the builders have been great to work with. This is really going to enhance the experience and service our clients will receive with the dedicated sales/meeting room and new camera room. The doubling of our production/office space will also solve a lot of our space problems with our growing staff. Everyone will have their own desk again! I'll post some pictures today before I leave for New York.

Oh yeah - I almost forgot to mention the workshop I'm going to on Tuesday. One of my photography heroes is giving a special 1 day workshop for 10 students from across the country at his studio. Joe McNally is one of the greatest lighting instructors around and while I've studied his work, read his books, and heard him speak at tradeshows, I've never had the opportunity to learn directly from him like I will this week. I'm flying out Tuesday for the all-day class on Wednesday and returning on Thursday. I plan to get a lot of work done on the plane and at the hotel. I'll be flying solo so I'll have no distractions from getting some image editing done!

Speaking of image editing - I'm extremely behind on finishing up my recent sessions. This June has been one of the busiest months we've ever seen. Add the studio construction and all the travel and you'll see why I'm a little behind. However, I fully intend to mend my ways and you'll see a barrage of posts hitting the blog soon. Until then, I've arranged for a little eye-candy to show what I'm working on. Check it all out below!

-Mike

Construction Update!

What a difference a day makes! The Jordan Construction Crew has been busting their butts this week, and look at the progress they've made. They've completely framed out the lower part of the new addition (where the studio will be), positioned all of the floor joists and have begun laying the plywood for the floor to the new sales room, bathroom, and kitchenette above.

More updates to come!