From capturing the perfect shot of a pooch or breath of fire to film clips featuring decked-out rides, FT Studio is offering Canberra creatives the perfect blank space to bring their vision to life.
Located away from all the hustle and bustle of Canberra proper, the Beard studio features industrial concrete walls, six-metre-high ceilings, and a roller door. Manager Germaine Muller says they purposely chose the space to make it easy for clients, not only when it came to things like parking but also creative control.
“It was really nice to find a space that was quieter and had more room and more flexibility around what we can and can’t do. We’re battling over less external and environmental factors when it comes to noise and light. We just want it to be as open and as tall as possible as well, which is hard to find,” Mr Muller says.
FT Studio moved into the space 18 months ago, however, Covid made opening difficult, and they had a very soft opening, slowly accepting external bookings.
Mr Muller is looking forward to what he is hoping will be their first full year of operating as normal and he already has plans in the works to improve their offerings.
Clients have access to changing facilities, a chill-out station, and Bluetooth speaker to help get them in the creative space. They also have access to backdrops, lighting, and an ever-growing range of props. Mr Muller says this year they might start looking into providing cameras as well.
Another plan to enhance the opportunities for local photographers is to host workshops where they can learn how to shoot with different backdrops, lights, and settings. Mr Muller says he is on the lookout for photographers with niche expertise to join.
“This room that we’ve got doing different backdrops all around the perimeter and then sort of doing sessions different background colours and props, doing sort of 30-minute stations,” he says.
Mr Muller first picked up his dad’s Sony camcorder when he was just seven years old, and soon fell in love with taking snaps of his family. As the family moved to different countries, his love for photography grew, particularly the art of capturing people.
“With a photo, you get to freeze time. I love getting those shots where the closer you look, the more detail you see, the more you see. Even things like seeing little scars that you may not have noticed in general conversation and sort of almost unpacking their story or their personality from a photo.”
Moving to Canberra when he was in around year six, Mr Muller says he had already experienced both densely populated areas and island life, Canberra being the perfect medium. He followed a creative path and co-founded Futuretheory, a marketing and website design company, which is conveniently located next to the studio. Having had experience with needing to capture headshots and website photos, he thought why not set up a place where people could come do just that while also making it uniquely their own?
The space has been hired out by a travelling pooch photographer, two music videos, circus acts, and content producers creating months of content within a few hours. Mr Muller says lots of shoots have been held there with e-communication brands and government public service announcements. He says it could be the perfect spot for home-based businesses to get more creative or for more traditional businesses to get up to date with social media trends.
“If you’re a business owner, if you’re only shooting content for social, you can often do it with a less expensive camera or even a phone if it’s just going on Tik Tok or Instagram. Giving business owners the opportunity to come in, book two hours to themselves, and just get months of content,” he smiles.
An appealing feature to many photographers is the fact that the studio is also a blackout space, meaning the artist has complete control over how they use light.
“I’ve seen it used for body scapes. In that form of photography, you really need to be able to manipulate the light in a way that almost doesn’t require space, because otherwise, you can’t get sort of the depth of darkness without a lot of editing,” he says.
Mr Muller is often surprised with how creative people get when hiring out the space, often completely transforming it. He remembers seeing one of the music videos that had been shot while he was absent and he didn’t recognise his own building.
“It just looked like it was the coolest – muscle car, smoke, multi-coloured lights, heaps of people. There was a rapper. I feel like if you were hanging out with Snoop Dogg, that’s the kind of thing that he did,” he smiles.
The only props they don’t allow in their studio are illegal items and those that may stain the concrete, such as glitter-infused oil. Mr Muller says other than that, as long as you are willing to do the cleaning, you are welcome to bring it into the studio.
With the space constantly evolving, the best way to get in contact or check out what they have on offer is through their website: canberrastudio.com.au
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