Damion Lloyd

Damion Lloyd Photography | Fullerton, California, USA

damion[at]damionlloyd.com | +1 (714) 873-5547

Q&A with Damion

How did you get into taking pictures for a living?

I worked in various one-hour mini-labs in junior college and a semi-pro lab when I transferred to Cal State Fullerton in 1991. It was there while developing other people’s pictures, I realized most were terrible photographers (or at least not very good) yet were earning pretty good money as ‘professional’ photographers. Earning only about $10/hour at the lab, I seriously wanted a piece of the professional photographers’ pie!!!

Tell me about your 360º photography studio setup! For starters, what kind of camera do you shoot with?

At the moment our studio is 100% Canon. That may change soon to one of the Sony mirrorless cameras (Sony’s definitely doing some trailblazing with their sensors). Our studio is a permanent 25% of our home- we converted the den and garage into one large space with tall ceilings and a 20’x30’ unobstructed shooting space. We also employ a 27” iMac computer and Paul C. Buff and Norman strobes to help complete our projects here. Light modifiers of every single shape, size and surface can also be found about the studio.

What type of products are you particularly good at creating 360º views of? Do you have a specialty?

As crazy as this sounds, we’re really, really good at making 360º apparel spins. They’re very costly to produce, but we feel nobody has the passion, or does apparel in 360º better than us. We also enjoy shooting very challenging objects like reflective jewelry. We love to solve problems for our clients!

Describe your ideal client for shooting a 360º view.

We prefer to work with small to medium sized companies with strong budgets and a direct line to a decision maker, or decision making team. Large companies are great, but there’s usually way too much red tape and too many decision makers to make working with those large companies much fun. Besides, breaking in to a large company is pretty difficult these days. Of course, we will work with a company of any size that needs our help, large or small.

For 360º photography, do you prefer shooting in high volume or low volume?

We prefer lower to medium volumes, as our work is more than just placing an object on the turntable and spinning it. Most of our products require extensive preparation and styling once they’re on the turntable. Much of our time is spent figuring out how best to mount/rig a given object to work with the turntable. Some products need to be suspended to look correct. Again, for the right client, we’ll shoot whatever you need us to in order to help your business make more sales.

What kind of things do you do for fun? You know, outside of work?

Gardening is my passion- I juice fresh vegetables every morning for breakfast, and really enjoy when the veggies for my juice come right from my garden!! I know exactly what chemicals were used when I grew them (hint: none!). We also go out to lunch everyday. Working from home has major benefits, but it can get lonely at times! We’re so fortunate that over 50 (non-chain) restaurants dot our lovely city. Most of them are excellent and have great staff. We love all our servers in Downtown Fullerton!!!

Who are some clients you’ve done work with in the past?

We shot the entire apparel/accessories catalog for Workrite FR (a division of Dickies) in 360º. Over 150 pieces total. In addition to that, we’ve also done work for the following awesome companies:

Hawke and Co.
Combat Gentlemen
3rd Eye Pinecones
Cardiff Skate Company
BJacket
Oakley

How does your pricing work for 360º product photography?

The million dollar question! The answer: it depends. On a lot of things. First and foremost, how complex is the object? A polished chrome flask that is as reflective as a mirror on all sides? A rollerblade/skate that is heavily spring-loaded but needs 3 separate open/stopped positions in addition to spinning it in 360º? Apparel (which needs extensive styling in addition to expert Photoshop work to look believable)? The list goes on and on and is why no prices are listed on our site. Every quote is customized for every single project. When running at capacity, our studio’s aim is to earn between $150-$200 per hour for our 360º product photography.

What’s a memorable project you’ve worked on in the past?

We spun a live human superhero once (he was in costume, but still…). No joke. It was an actor who wanted something a bit different than the standard headshot.

What’s the best way for someone to get in touch with you?

Email is always best, though I like talking with people on the phone as well- sometimes a lot more can be accomplished with a phone call than an extensive email. You can always text me as well. I’m pretty easy to get in touch with.

Contact Damion