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
