Camera body
Phase One IQ4 150MP
151‑megapixel medium‑format CMOS, 53.7 × 40.4 mm sensor — roughly 2.5× the surface area of a 35mm full‑frame sensor.
- Native ISO 50–6400
- 16‑bit color depth per channel
- Tethered capture to Capture One Pro
Studio — Long Island City, NY
The room behind the image.
HD Feet Studio is the only North American facility dedicated to high‑definition foot photography, shot end‑to‑end on medium‑format digital. The pages below document the equipment, the founder, and the 3,200 sq ft room where every frame is made.
Request a Shoot BriefPhase One IQ4 150MP · Schneider 80mm LS f/2.8 · ISO 50 · 1/125s · tethered to Capture One Pro
Founder & Lead Photographer
Mara Velez
Mara opened HD Feet Studio in 2018 inside a 480 sq ft room in Long Island City, eight months after leaving a generalist commercial job where, by her count, only 11% of her shoots touched footwear. The rest of the work was nearly everything else. She built this studio to be the opposite: one subject, one camera system, one obsessive color pipeline.
She was named one of Footwear News’ 30 Under 30 in 2022, the same year the studio moved into its current 3,200 sq ft flagship three blocks away. She still shoots the majority of frames herself and personally approves the grade on every delivered file.
Equipment Specification Sheet
One camera system. Zero compromises.
Every shoot is captured on the same medium‑format body and lens set, tethered to a calibrated color pipeline. Below is the working spec a footwear brand’s pre‑production lead can pre‑qualify against, without scheduling a discovery call.
Lens set
Schneider Kreuznach Leaf Shutter LS
Three fixed focal lengths covering product, lifestyle, and overhead work, all leaf‑shutter for high‑sync strobe at any aperture.
- 55mm LS f/2.8 — lifestyle, on‑foot
- 80mm LS f/2.8 — hero & three‑quarter
- 120mm LS f/4.0 — macro & detail
Color pipeline
Calibrated ICC, weekly verification
Every viewing surface in the studio is profiled against an X‑Rite i1Publish Pro 2 reference, with full pipeline verification every Monday morning before the first shoot of the week.
- sRGB and ProPhoto reference targets shipped
- D65 simulator for cross‑screen review
- Color‑checker PASS! reference per session
RAW delivery
48‑hour turnaround, guaranteed
Any single‑day shoot covering under 12 products receives its full RAW set within 48 hours of wrap, with a free technical retest on every image available for 90 days post‑delivery.
- IIQ‑L tethered RAW + selected XMPs
- Secure transfer, watermarked review proof
- In‑house retouching, AICP‑certified team
The Flagship Facility
3,200 sq ft, 14 minutes from JFK.
The flagship studio sits in Long Island City, Queens, with a dedicated sample‑receiving bay, two shooting bays, a full prop rack, and an in‑house retouching department. International samples land at JFK and clear customs to the loading dock in roughly fourteen minutes by ground.
By the numbers
Six years, one specialty.
210+
Brand clients served since 2018
14,600+
Individual SKUs photographed
34%
Average product‑page conversion lift across prior clients
41%
Of clients return for a fourth project
92%
Of bookings come via referral or repeat
Press & Recognition
Third‑party endorsement.
Editorial features, an industry award, and a single named DTC client credit — published before, not because of, this page.
- 2023 Specialist Studio of the Year Production Paradise Awards For dedicated medium‑format footwear and product imagery.
- 2021–2024 Featured profile & imagery Vogue Business On the rise of dedicated product‑photography studios.
- 2022 · 2024 Cover & feature Footwear News Including Mara Velez’s 30 Under 30 profile.
- 2024 Imagery partner credit Modern Retail · Top 50 DTC Footwear Trusted studio for 6 of the 2024 Top 50 DTC footwear brands.