The Company - Martin Studio Photography began in 1996 in Columbia, MD with one goal in mind, to exceed our customer's expectations. On this foundation we focused on quality, and we began each project with the end in mind. This would start with the equipment we used to the vendors that helped us create the final presentation for the customer.
In 2006 our growth led us to Baltimore, MD where Martin Studio Photography, LLC was formed with a larger creative space to house our staff and the larger projects we attracted. In an effort to support more of our clients, in 2009 we expanded and started accepting photographic projects in, and around the New York City area.
In 2010 Martin Studio Photography moved to a new and improved studio location in Canton. This location is still within Baltimore City near the downtown inner harbor area. This professional environment offers a rustic factory setting that offers character in itself for a clients project.
During these challenging economic times and in this digital age we understand our customers have many choices available to complete their photographic projects. We want our customers to know that our staff takes great pride in applying new creative thinking to help present more ideas for our customer's projects large or small to help provide solutions to advertisement and editorial campaigns.
The company's imagery can be found at any given time in many of your favorite magazines through assignment and freelance submissions; OXYGEN, VIBE, ESSENCE, Performance Press, ZINK, and Jewel magazines to name just a few. Our complete client list is available upon request.
The Photographer - Jeff Martin always had a deep appreciation and love for the arts. He purchased his first camera in 1991 when he found himself going to the garden island of Kauai, Hawaii with only his 4H pencil and charcoal to record the experience. What started out a tool for one art form later became his passion.
He returned from the month long vacation in the south pacific with his new appreciation of photography and the stories the pictures would tell. But for years he would only play with the camera from time to time taking snap shots while with friends or walking in nature in the DMV area. To him it wasn't a profitable passion to pursue at the time, the would be photographer was in between jobs; the year was still 1991and the machinist had been laid off. Two months later he would find a career at The Washington Post Newspaper Company as a maintenance machinist for their printing presses and support equipment.
The long hours and split working shifts help remind him of the pleasant days in Hawaii, the passion he had for art, and how photography could play a key role in expression himself. Then one day a picture in The Washington Post Newspaper, shot by staff photographer Carol Guzy sparked his interests again in learning more about photography.
Jeff enrolled into Howard Community College in Columbia, MD specifically to learn more about how to create the things he saw in his minds eye using light in 1997. There he met Jan Starr, the photography department head and his teacher for the next two-years. She helped guide Jeff in opening his eyes with words of encouragement, inspiration, and exposing him techniques as he defined what he was seeing and how he was capturing it throughout the semesters.
In 1999 while still working for The Washington Post, but as a manager now he embraced an opportunity to begin a company four-year program that would take him to one of the top schools in the country for photography, Rochester Institute of Technology. But he went to study something else for the company; at first he thought what a cruel joke. But to his surprise a large part of the program was focused on all aspects desktop publication, four color, and digital printing. This supported all the post work in his photography, he was studying how to use Photoshop, InDesign, QUARK, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, getting a better understanding of digital color, and of course learning about printing that he still uses today.
During the late 1990's Jeff started out shooting landscape for stock agencies, then a family friend asked him to shoot her wedding. So, shooting people began and to this day weddings are a big part of his business. He took his first staff photographer job at Glamour Shots in the Columbia Mall to get a crash course on identifying the differences of peoples beauty and how to shoot them to make them look their best, build up his portrait portfolio, and to get another view on the photography business. That experience also helped develop his direction as one of the areas go-to portrait photographers.
Another photographer that was also a dean at a local photography school recognized his diverse portrait style of shooting. He accepted an offer and soon started teaching at The Washington School of Photography in Bethesda, MD. Where the love of teaching helped him develop and diversify his photography seminars he offers to help people fill the gaps in thier discipline when looking for a mentor today.
Jeff's work remains infused by a coterie of influences: famed photographers George Hurrell, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordan Parks, Richard Avedon, Yousuf Karsh, Helmut Newton, Edward Weston, Herb Ritts, Patrick Demarchelier, Jerry Avenaim, and Sante D'orazio to name a few of the people who helped shape the way he sees celebrity and editorial photography in his view finder even today. You will find a natural "capture the moment" approach to his portrait shooting style, a creative bond with his client is important to help him bring out the character for an exceptional image.
Jeff is presently working on two personal book projects “Wrapped” an artistic approach in which he combines his first love and his present love, metals and exotic beautiful things. And the second “Curves” is a reflection of what you don't see on the fashion magazine covers but is just as desirable to most. Jeff is also the creator, and curator of the annual art show “Art in the City” in Baltimore, the show in 2010 will mark its fourth year.