reviews

Stills and Key Art Conept for “The Father”

”I am the Writer/Director/Executive Producer of a Proof of Concept short film titled, ‘The Father’. Julia came onboard our shoot and absolutely blew me away with her work ethic and her skills behind the camera. Julia not only listened to what I wanted in photography but took the initiative to capture moments on set with the cast/crew that I had not even thought about. Working so silently with her camera, Julia snapped photos all over the place. She captured everything on set, with every shot containing striking imagery and an impressive use of light. Even during the middle of the day, Julia manipulated the sun to work in her favour. Julia was so friendly and always checked in to show pictures she had taken. And in-between set-ups, Julia took cast and grabbed character shots and key art photos. I had no idea what I wanted to see for Key Art, so I allowed Julia to take the reigns and the results are incredible. On set you need people you can trust to get the job done, and I wouldn’t trust anyone else other than Julia for photography. Upon completion of my shoot, Julia began grading the photos and matched the reference photos almost exactly. Her interpretation of imagery and colour is impeccable. Julia would always ask for comments and if any photos needed any touchups, and my answer was always “No, these are incredible”. Julia knocked every single grade out of the park. Technically and creatively skilled, Julia is also the utmost professional. She was incredible to work with, and I wouldn’t use anybody other than Julia again.”

Stills for “Beats of Colours” (short music documentary)

I recently hired Julia to do until stills for our documentary Beats of Colours and the result is AMAZING! Julia is very professional, always with a positive attitude, with an incredible creative eye and with an understanding of on-set etiquette. Having her in our production was the best decision. The images she delivered were stunning, capturing the mood and tone so perfectly, that we even decided to use some of them on our film. She did a fantastic job from conceptualising our brief and capturing it on set, to delivering the images. She is also very skilled at editing and the final images reflect her commitment to her craft. Thanks to her, we have great content for the promotional campaign of the film with phenomenal key art and BTS images. She even suggested ideas and helped us create and put together the poster.

I highly recommend working on set with Julia. I am definitely reaching out to her again for our future projects.

STILLS FOR “Still Life” Short film currently in post-production

”Julia came on board as a Stills Photographer very much at the last minute on our short film, ‘Still Life’ and I could not have been more thrilled to have had her on board. Julia went above and beyond the call of duty. She made getting high-quality images a priority, finding moments in the chaos to make sure that every possible need was met including potential promo images of every variety, behind the scenes stills and options for our marketing deliverables. She was a delight on set. She was friendly, professional, and always had a positive attitude and a smile on her face. During post-production, Julia stayed in contact with what she had captured, making sure the stills were kept in line with the visual style of the film. Her suggestions on which stills best suited the style and tone of the film were spot-on. She provided some poster muck-ups, which were a huge help in guiding the direction of our promotional materials. Most importantly, the quantity, quality and range of different images that she was able to capture ensured that we had everything that we needed to move into this stage of production. We were wanting for nothing. I would not hesitate to work with her again and could not speak highly enough of her work. She is a major asset.”

Creative Photos for a Pitch Deck (feature)

Julia was brought into shoot our pitch deck photos last minute after our initial photographer wasn’t able to make it. With little preparation time, Julia went to extreme efforts in order to understand our brief and communicate our ideas back to us in order to ensure she understood what we wanted. Without an assistant she worked tirelessly with a positive attitude all day, getting the most diverse and exceptional photographs for us. She remained generous in spirit, even snappy a few BTS shots and gifting them to us.

Her post production skills are brilliant, she did some wonderful editing for us making the pictures the very best they could be. She is one of the most hard working people I have ever met, and we are so lucky we had the chance to work with her.

If you hire Julia you are going to get exceptional quality – both in the product and the person.”

STILLS for “The Choice to Love” (short film)

Julia Firak was the unit stills photographer on a short drama I directed called “The Choice To Love” and she did a phenomenal job over our three days of filming in taking stills and getting our poster shot.

I’ve also worked with Julia before, on a music video and getting headshots done for myself. Julia through all these times has done her work with high professionalism and demonstrated a beautiful creative eye. Film sets can be very demanding and stressful places and Julia has shown her patience and calmness in getting work done well despite any challenges that arise in the dynamic environment of being on set. She is a great problem solver and extremely talented creative. I think Julia’s photos speak for themselves in showing just how talented and professional she is.

I cannot emphasise enough how much I recommend Julia, she is so valuable to any production or job!

Creative Photos for a Pitch Deck (feature)

“Julia is an extremely talented photographer and also an excellent collaborator when it comes to realizing your creative brief.

We worked with Julia on a photo shoot for a feature film pitch deck, and Julia was able quickly understand our needs and bring to life our ideas in a way that was even more than we had imagined ourselves. She was also super efficient in getting us the finished product.

The whole process from booking to delivery saw seamless.”

Stills for “The Junket” (short horror film)

“I would absolutely recommend working with Julia, her stills bring an incredible amount of value to any production.

She understands how to remain invisible and unobstructive, whilst capturing stunning stills.

She is adaptive to any lighting situation, utilising what is on set. (...)

Julia has fast become my favourite photographer to work with. She is the utmost professional, calm, full of ideas and takes direction well.”

Stills for a Dress Thèque Music Video

“Julia is a photography ninja! She captures amazing campaign imagery and BTS shots but you wouldn't even know she was there - she knows her way around a set and where to position herself so as to get the perfect shot but also give enough space to the other crew.

She is an incredibly personable and professional photographer. She was a vibrant and positive presence on set - the talent was relaxed in her company.

Stills for “Soles”(short film)

Julia came on board as our stills photographer for our production ‘Soles’, a short film produced through our youth mentoring organisation ‘Mountain of Youth’.

I honestly couldn’t recommend Julia enough, she was super professional and generous since day 1 with our initial interactions and discussions about the project and visions for the stills. On set, she was amazing to have around super fast, discreet and lovely vibes. And when we saw her photos we couldn’t be happier, they were absolutely brilliant! After delivering our stills she went above and beyond working on refining the perfect look for our stills.

Anyone would be lucky to have Julia on their set!

Stills, Portraits on set and Poster shots for 6 short films

“Julia has now worked on 5 short films for us and we will continue to contact her for future opportunities.

Why? Because Julia always goes beyond our expectations when it comes to her preparation and on set work ethic. Her curiosity coupled with her compassion towards the actor has revealed authentic photographic moments which we have used for our advertising, media pr and online promotions.

Julia has been a valuable contribution to our shoots and is now a key crew member whenever we shoot. If you want to achieve success I would highly recommend contacting Julia today.”

Stills and BTS for “The Starving Artist” short film

“Julia has a very warm personality. As soon as she arrives on set you instantly get along with her, she carries herself with collaborative spirit and on top of that she’s extremely easy to communicate with. (…)
She has that passion and creative eye. Watching her work on set you can see she really tries to make the photos as best as possible, this is a true professional.”

Stills for “Ghost Gentleman” short film

“I’ve worked on many sets but I’ve never met that professional and “invisible” photographer like Julia. She was always at the right time and in the right place to capture the best moments of the particular scene, without disturbing the rest of the crew.

When I received the final stills there were no random takes. Every single photo faithfully reflected the emotions and meaning of the scene.

In addition, the atmosphere of the photos perfectly reflected the character of the film, which was a priority for me when it comes to film stills.

From now I can’t imagine being on a set without such a good photographer as Julia.”

Photos to promote artist’s music (creative studio session)

“I love the images and the memory of such a fun shoot - the images really capture me and my music, and I’m super excited to use them to promote my work.

I honestly loved everything about the shoot. I really appreciated Julia’s organisation and time management in getting things ready with quality.”

GALLERY/FILM POSTER STUDIO SESSION

“During the studio session, Julia, as always, showed her professionalism, commitment and creativity, as the idea of my poster was a bit demanding and extraordinary.

Apart from the great job that Julia has done, she also provided advice when the situation required it and she created a friendly atmosphere in the studio, which my actors also confirmed! I strongly recommend Julia for any kind of project.

“Impossible” does not exist for her.”

STUDIO PORTRAIT SESSION

“The portrait session with Julia was great - she kept me relaxed and allowed plenty of time to work and experiment. The final images were exactly what I needed to better market myself.

She followed the brief closely whilst also experimenting enough to bring some fresh ideas to the table and give me options.”

Event photography at a premiere/Red Carpet

“Thanks Julia you were amazing! I would highly recommend you any day of the week!!!”

OUTDOOR PORTRAIT SESSION

“Julia was really helpful and understanding in directing me during the shoot, I felt very comfortable and reassured throughout!”

CREATIVE STUDIO SESSION

“She was super organised and efficient given the last minute nature of the shoot. She knew exactly what she wanted idea wise which translated so well in the photos. The composition and quality of the photos were outstanding. Her idea was very obvious in the photos and I particularly liked the style of the shoot.”

CREATIVE BRANDING PORTRAIT SESSION

”Julia is an exceptional photographer and so committed to her work. Her photography is so beautiful. I would highly recommend her to anyone!”

Stills and Key Art for “ Red Flags White Lies” Feature Film

Julia is a pleasure to collaborate with and I highly recommend her to anyone wanting stylish, professional stills. Julia is friendly, a great listener, and creative; she takes the time to understand a film's themes, style, even down to grading choices, then draws on that information to plan and take great photos that help tell the story. Her photography has taken the promotion of our film to the next level, I couldn't have possibly hoped for better.

Julia lead the design of our Key Art Concept, drawing on precedents we discussed to sketch up a strong concept that she then executed, resulting in a powerful image used for our film's poster.

Last but not least, she's a fast thinker on set, spotting opportunities and capturing moments while remaining sensitive to our schedule.

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

Actor Headshot Session

I have worked with Julia on several occasions for a variety of photos (Actors headshots, BTS Stills, etc)

I am always amazed by the results, she always exceeds expectations.

Julia has the kindest energy. She is professional, very organised and easy to work with. There are always lots of laughs which always results in more amazing work. She really works hard and goes above and beyond for each of her clients / jobs.

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

Actor Headshots:
We worked together on a few projects so far and I really love Julia’s dedication and professionalism. We could do a number of really good looking headshots in just an hour, including the lights tests and outfit changes. Absolutely love the photos.

Couple studio session:
Julia is a highly professional and easy to work with photographer. When I need a photographer again, I would call Julia. The studio couple photoset we did with her came out very beautiful, the lighting is a piece of art. What I also love that she ensures during the photoset that the client likes the angle/lighting/overall and changes to their liking. I would really recommend Julia as for indoor and outdoor photography

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

Actor Headshot Session

”Julia’s warm and enthusiastic personality, mixed with her diligent work ethic, made for a fun and beneficial headshot session, of which Julia approached with the upmost professionalism. She created an inviting atmosphere which encouraged openness and playfulness. Her guidance mixed with her mastery of all things photography and editing blew me away and I could not be more thrilled with the final product. To anyone searching for a photographer, look no further than Julia. She is a remarkably talented, dedicated and experienced photographer who has a true drive and passion for the industry.”