ABOUT US

Empire West Studios

Welcome to Empire West Studios (EWS), the outstanding Model & Talent Photography studio located in Tempe, AZ since 1995.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Fashion Designers, Models. Actors. Singers. Dancers.

Empire West Studios (EWS), in Tempe since 1995, specializes in outstanding Fashion & Beauty and Model & Talent Photography for Children, Teens, and Adults. Clayton Hall, Photographer and President, has over 30 years experience in the field, both in Tempe and in New York City.

Our method of shooting is a non-contrived, action packed, studio based style that we call Performance Photography which focuses on movement and expression and is designed to show off the latest in Designer Fashion to prospective clients or an actor’s, model’s, singer’s, or dancer’s talent to the top agencies. Add our specialized products to your portfolio such as EWS Montages, Twin Sets, and Film Strips and you’ll really standout from the competition!

Our clients, located coast-to-coast, consider Empire West to be the leading Model & Talent Photography studio in Phoenix and one of the best in the nation.  Our work is 100% guaranteed, we have an A+ BBB rating. Also, our Model & Talent clients get contacts to all the top agencies. As a result, we have an 80% success rate regarding our clients procuring representation.

Our photo sessions are reasonably priced and we’ll be glad to go over everything with you when you call, 480-303-9359, to set up your free consultation. We look forward to meeting you.

EWS BASICS

EXPERIENCE
Clayton Hall…30 plus years experience photographing and scouting top models and talent in the Fashion, Music, TV & Film Industries both in New York and Phoenix..  Barbara Elaine Muller…26 years experience in Hair & Make-Up, Fashion Styling, Creative Direction and Model Scouting. Clayton Hall Photographic Studios, New York City, NY, Empire West Studios, Phoenix, AZ . See our team below.

PERSONAL ATTENTION
We believe in the Golden Rule at Empire West Studios!!! There is no other professional photography studio that treats their clients better…period!. You’ll have fun here!

STABILITY
We’ve been at our current Tempe, AZ location since 1995.

100% CLIENT SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!!!

We are an accredited member and maintain an A+ rating with the Arizona Better Business Bureau.

In addition, every step of the way, from styling and selecting outfits to checking each look on a 27 inch iMac digital monitor, is client approved before shooting. Clients only select photographs that they personally love and that we feel are the best choices to satisfy their career objectives. EWS guarantees all of our color and b&w prints are of museum archival quality and that they are delivered to our clients only after they have passed a series of inspections and are signed by Clayton Hall. Any print found to be defective or of poor quality due to the production process will be replaced by EWS at no charge to the client.

OUR REFERENCES ARE VALLEY WIDE!

Nobody does it better!

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Our Team

Clayton Hall, founder of Empire West Studios in 1995, has been a professional photographer specializing in Fashion & Beauty since 1979 at Clayton Hall Photographic Studios, New York, NY. His work has appeared on both the covers and pages of many leading magazines including…Accessories Magazine, Artist & Repertoire, ASMP/AZ, BOMA/New York, Fender Frontline, Flair, Leaders Magazine, Manhattan Catalog, Phoenix Magazine, Rolling Stone, Vogue Health & Beauty, W’s Accessories, Woman’s Day Health & Beauty, Women’s Wear Daily, to name a few.

Clayton Hall graduated from Villanova University with a BSEE degree in Electrical Engineering. Following college, Clayton was employed in engineer sales with Johnson Service Company (Philadelphia, PA), Taylor Instrument Company (Rochester, NY), and Control Sales, Inc (Piscataway, NJ). This foray into engineering sales did not fulfill Clayton’s artistic nature and he desired work as a creative. Luckily, Clayton inherited a collection of camera equipment following his father’s death and embarked on a three year home study course in Professional Photography through The School of Modern Photography, eventually earning the Student of the Month Award. Elated by this honor, he decided to take his student photography to the next level.

As fate would have it, while reading Vogue Magazine, Clayton noticed an ad for a museum catalogue that accompanied a famous show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY) by the great photographer, Richard Avedon. Vogue offered an unsigned version of the catalogue for $35 and a signed version for $50. “I opted for the signed version.” Intrigued by Avedon’s photographs (in the catalogue) and with only a month remaining, Hall walked into the show and was immediately hooked! “The movement, the expression, the quality, the size; the models weren’t just standing there with blank faces. The imagery that I witnessed on those walls was spectacular and immediately I knew I wanted to do that!” He didn’t know how Avedon achieved those images, but he knew he had to learn. “I’ve been working to achieve similar results ever since,” Hall says. The portfolios included in this website are the result of that effort.

Hall quit his engineering sales job, rented out his condo on the Jersey Shore, moved to New York City, and, became a professional photographer, founding Clayton Hall Photographic Studios in New York. After many years of work and experience in New York City, Hall moved with Barbara Muller (Hair & Make-Up Artist) to Tempe, AZ and opened Empire West Studios, Inc. (October, 1995) specializing in Model & Talent Photography.

“With our new website launching in the Spring of 2018, we’re beginning a new chapter in the history of Empire West Studios,” Hall says. “We’re now ready to target Fashion & Beauty clients from out-of state, as well as overseas. Fashion Industry people are constantly flying all over the world to get the shots they need. The bottom line is if they like your work they’ll book you, and I’m confident that this will be the case with us. We’ll start off with designer look books and magazine editorial, such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and work into fashion catalogues and advertising. I am looking to do it all and I’m very excited for the future.”

Barbara Elaine Muller is the Hair & Make-Up Artist and Creative Director of Empire West Studios. With over 30 years experience in the Fashion, Advertising, Music, TV and Film industries, Barbara is the cornerstone of the Empire West Studio’s artistic team. Indeed, unless otherwise indicated, virtually every hair and make-up style that you see on our web site has been created by her. Barbara’s work has appeared in such notable magazines as People Magazine, Boma/NY, Artist & Repertoire as well as the EWS trademarked titles Queen Anne’s, M&T, Hipster, hotteen, Man-X, Crush, à la mode, Travelog, A&R, First Take and Paris. Her work has appeared on CD releases for recording artist’s Marco Antonio (HOY!), JD Simo (Burnin’ Live), as well as for rap artist DO-P (Will I Be Heard?).

“Developing a look for Model & Talent Photography is quite different than styling for Fashion & Beauty,” says Barbara, “for the former you’re selling the talent not the clothes…you want to be current but not overstated or too trendy…for the latter you’re selling the clothes not the talent!”

Muller began creating with color and facial structure as a saleswoman/make-up artist for Lancome Cosmetics in Hartford, Connecticut. Her ability to capture the individual beauty of women of all ages quickly gained the attention of local photographers, which immediately got her career started as a freelance make-up artist. While visiting various photographers in New York, Barbara met Clayton Hall in 1985 and they have been working together ever since.

” Enhancing natural beauty with minimal application of colour is now en vogue and hopefully will remain so,” Barbara says…”The days of painted ladies are a thing of the past.” However, “minimal” does not mean easy and she insists upon working quietly when designing an intricate hair style or when fine tuning eyes and lips for her clients. That means…”no talking please!” To her, the photographic set is a place where the artistic team creates simultaneously in a calm, relaxed environment allowing the talent to blossom over the course of the day.

Barbara has extensive experience working in front of and behind the camera lens. As a talented SAG actress, she has appeared in commercials for Titleist & Footjoy Worldwide, Subaru of America, The American Laser Assoc. and “Hovnanian” Investment Banking. She has been in numerous theatre productions and has done voice over work for Hoan Kitchen Appliances which appeared in Macy’s and Bloomingdales.

TESTIMONIALS

Had so much fun!! Molly wants to know when she can do it again!" "I believe we are going with Go Talent Coast To Coast!" "Those pics went over great!" " The pictures were a hit. They were falling all over them, and no one had anything comparable!!" "Molly was just booked her first commercial!! She will be doing a commercial for University of Phoenix."

Testimonials

"To a phenomenal photographer and creative artist inspiration and talents took a raw motivated actress in the making to new heights. Clayton Hall, photographer and owner of Empire West Studios has the "Right Stuff" to make it all happen. The photo shoot I experienced was exhilarating and lasted the whole day, but yet a process I would do over and over again to get the adrenaline rush and excitement I felt while Clayton created and sculpted my three looks for commercial, hipster, and drama/glamour. From beginning to end, Clayton's team of professionals were top notch. Many thanks to Barabra Muller, hair and makeup artist and creative director; Barney, Killian, and DK for photography support.The looks we created together were impressive and current to the film industry market. My portfolio reflects Clayton's creativity and artistic talents which I've not seen in other studios. I highly recommend Clayton and his team to anyone seeking an opportunity in modeling or acting!! Many thanks for a fantastic photo shoot!!"

Testimonials

"My portfolio blows everybody away! They like my face painting, they love the models - but they are BLOWN AWAY by your photography! Everybody LOVES YOUR ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY!! They are blown away by the richness of colors, the depth of the colors and the clarity of the photos. What kind of camera is he using? His work is amazing! OMG! Before I left for Portland Oregon, end of June, I had a face and body painting class with Pashur. I showed him the portfolio you gave me and he LOVED your photography too! He works with a photographer in Las Vegas, but he said your photos are incredibly RICH and Striking. He said you would make anyone's artwork classy and he hopes I appreciate co-working with another artist such as yourself. I want you to know, I DO appreciate working with you! Your photography is what makes my work come alive. After the model washes it off, the face painting still exists because of Clayton Hall, Photographer Extraordinaire!"

Testimonials

"The book is simply fantastic!! People's eyes pop out of their heads as they turn the pages...really fun to watch. "