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IN THE LOUPE: Frank Ockenfels 3

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Frank Ockenfels 3, Self-Portrait Frank Ockenfels 3, Self-Portrait
© Frank Ockenfels 3

Location: Encino, Calif. He turned his family room into an office/art studio.

Education: BFA, School of Visual Arts.

Preferred shooting studios: Industria in New York and Smashbox in Los Angeles.

Number of employees: One studio manager/producer, who also acts as a sometimes baby-sitter: Cassia Hoffman.

Clients: Apple iPhone, Chevrolet, Samsung, Warner Bros., Miramax, Paramount Studios, Dimension Films and other motion picture studios and record companies; magazines include Blender, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Premiere, FHM, Newsweek, Wired, Entertainment Weekly, Spin, Outside, U.K. Conde Nast Traveler and New York.

Preferred equipment: Fuji 680, Hasselblad H1 and H3. In the past two years, Ockenfels has focused on the 35mm-style DSLR, using the Canon 5D.He says that people can't tell the difference between those digital images and his other work. "I have a closet full of cameras, 60 percent of which I can no longer get film for," he adds. The Super D Graflex, fitted for 4x5 Polaroid, has been used for years for dramatic shallow-focus portraits, plus a Widelux 120 and 35mm for travel and some location work.He's made many fun, surprising shots using a cast-iron Avant Quad passport camera with a four-lens turret, producing images that look like amusement-park photo-booth shots.

Major awards: "I have won awards," he admits, "but since I don't enter the call for entries much, I'm not really sure what."
Advice for aspiring celebrity photographers: "Don't do the obvious," Ockenfels cautions. "Find your own voice. Being a portrait or ‘celebrity' photographer is about the opportunity and what you do with it."

Website: FrankOckenfels3.com

Randy Woods
Story Author: Randy Woods

Randy Woods, editor of PhotoMedia, has been in the magazine publishing world for more than 20 years, covering such varied topics as photography, insurance, business startups, environmental issues and newspaper publishing. He is also associate editor for iSixSigma magazine and writes a job—search blog for The Seattle Times called “Hire Ground.”

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