This post is sponsored by CSI Rentals.

We focus on your shoot. Please stop by CSI Rentals for all your photo and video equipment rental needs.

Created By BlankSlate

We’ve shown you some great places to take photos in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, and now we’re heading east to explore Bushwick. When you get off the L train, the first things you’ll notice are the industrial warehouses and lofts. However, Bushwick has a rapidly growing artist community and with it come the design-conscious bars, restaurants and cafés. If you’re looking for a sleek and shiny backdrop for a photoshoot, you’ll be hard pressed to find it here, but we think Bushwick’s gritty charm is better anyway.

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Head straight to Troutman Street to photograph colorful murals by artists that make up the Bushwick Collective. The murals go on for several blocks and range in style, subject matter and size from small figures on doors to huge designs that take up the sides of the buildings. They work as a great backdrop for an artistic shoot.

Though much of Bushwick has a distinctly industrial feel, you can find a little green enclave at Maria Hernandez Park. With trees lining the paths that meander around basketball courts and playgrounds, the park is a neighborhood spot where residents go to hang out and enjoy the scenery. It makes for an especially nice place to take photos in the fall, when the leaves match the colors of the surrounding buildings.

Mellow Pages library and reading room is a haven for book lovers. Located in the Bogart Studio building, Mellow Pages’ mission is to bring limited-print fiction and poetry to Bushwick and the surrounding area. They have a collection of over 3,000 books and zines and host readings and other events almost nightly. This is the place to go for a literary-themed photo shoot.

Maybe you need a place with shelves and shelves of craft beer for your next photo shoot. If so, The Sampler on Starr Street is the place. They’ve got over 100 different beer bottles plus craft brews on tap.

Recently opened, The Rookery looks like a sophisticated English pub that took over an industrial space. You can tell that the interior design was carefully crafted, right down to the floral wallpaper above the booths and the little ships perched on shelves. Come early if you want the place all to yourself. After 8:00 the crowds start coming.

Just across from The Rookery, you’ll find AP Café with its stark, minimal interior. This place is definitely making Bushwick feel more grown up and sophisticated. The café has a calm vibe with a waterfall inside and fresh flowers. As if the design wasn’t enough of a reason to photograph here, they serve delicious coffee and donuts by Dough.

Not only can you take cool photos inside L Train Vintage, but you can also find enough cheap vintage clothes to style an awesome shoot. This place has everything from $5 skirts and dresses to $30 fur coats and cute shoes to match. You can get whatever you need for that Wild West or Mad Men themed photo shoot you’ve been planning.

Finally, stop by CSI Rentals on Flushing Avenue for all the photographic equipment you need. They’ve got DSLR cameras, Pro Video cameras, lighting and production gear. Then get out there and make it happen!

BRIC Community Media staff record visitors as they celebrate the opening of BRIC House in October 2013

This post is sponsored by BRIC.

BRIC is a non-profit arts and media cultural organization. BRIC’s brand-new 40,000-sq-ft cultural complex opened October 3, 2013.

Created By BlankSlate

BRIC House, Brooklyn’s new cultural town square, opened just over a month ago in the former Mark Strand Theater located at 647 Fulton Street, and inside it’s already buzzing with creative energy. In addition to offering visual arts exhibitions and performances, BRIC offers a range of community media classes to Brooklyn residents. Media classes are also being taught by BRIC at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central, New Lots and Kings Highway branches. With 3rd Ward’s abrupt closure, the course offerings at BRIC become that much more unique, and which, thanks to substantial funding from the City, won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Today we’re taking you inside the Community Media Center at BRIC House with Video Production in the Field instructor Dontré Conerly

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BRIC students get trained in all aspects of TV production, from planning a story to shooting to editing. According to Conerly, students usually come with an idea—from interviewing the owner of a new restaurant in the neighborhood to addressing issues like safe biking in Brooklyn. On day one of the class instructors focus students on making their ideas more compelling, whether they’re shooting a full length TV segment or a three minute YouTube video. Conerly and BRIC’s other instructors help students bridge the gap between having an idea and making it happen.

Conerly says one of his goals is to prepare students who work in the field to create broadcasts as a one-man band, acting as both reporter and cameraman simultaneously. Having spent a month on Staten Island as a one-man band covering Hurricane Sandy, he knows the challenges TV news journalists face when working alone in the field. In the field, students encounter a lot of pressure—they must control the camera, adjust audio and white balance, frame the shot, and conduct interviews—without the help of a studio crew. BRIC’s Video in the Field Production classes aim to train students on the technical aspects of broadcasting, so working a camera will be second nature, enabling them to focus on the interview at hand.

At the end of a four week course, students get certified as community producers, and they are welcome to use BRIC’s video equipment free of charge. BRIC encourages students to keep using their skills, and they will produce students’ shows and air them on the Brooklyn Public Network and online. Conerly notes that one of the thrilling things about teaching these classes right here in Brooklyn is that as soon as students acquire the skills, they can access career opportunities at any of the TV production studios in the city.

You can visit the BRIC website to learn more about community media classes, which in addition to TV production, also include digital photography, graphic design, audio editing, and marketing

This post is sponsored by CSI Rentals.

We focus on your shoot. Please stop by CSI Rentals for all your photo and video equipment rental needs.

Created By BlankSlate

Previously, we took you on a tour of Williamsburg’s Best Photographic Locations, from the East River State Park to Juliette’s restaurant on N6th. Today, we’re heading north to Greenpoint, which the L Mag named the number one neighborhood in Brooklyn. Like Williamsburg, Greenpoint has an industrial past, much of which still remains even as more young restaurateurs and artisans move in and set up shop. This mixing creates some striking juxtapositions that make for stunning photos. So check out a few of these spots for your next photo shoot.

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The India Street Pier is one of the most striking examples of Greenpoint’s gritty charm. The pier itself is clean and modern (though the cleanliness of the water is another question). The East River Ferry stops at the end of the dock, as as you walk inland, you’ll begin to notice the crumbling cement and stray bits of fencing. The Chrysler and Empire State Building just across the river make for a unique shot.

Heading north from the pier, stop at Eagle Trading Co. on the corner of Eagle and Franklin Streets. This picturesque café has a decidedly vintage feel with details like old glass coke bottles, distressed tables and a big stopwatch-style clock. It’s a great place to set a 1940s, ’50s or ’60s era fashion shoot.

Another great spot for vintage shoots is the Box House Hotel on Box Street. This part of Greenpoint, on the northern tip near Newtown Creek, doesn’t get nearly as much foot traffic as the southern and western parts of the ‘hood. But stroll up to the Box House Hotel and you’ll feel like you just walked into an Edward Hopper painting. Inside, the hotel is more contemporary in design, but beautiful as well, with lots of vibrant colors and attention to detail.

There’s no lack of attention to detail at Milk & Roses, a neighborhood favorite. This coffee shop by day slash wine bar by night has the cozy feel of a Paris café with book-lined walls, votive candles illuminating the marble tables, and a baby grand piano. Milk & Roses hosts poetry readings and occasional concerts, so it’s perfect for a literary shoot or as the backdrop for an author portrait. Don’t miss the enchanting garden in the back.

For a photo shoot meant to highlight the best of made-in-Brooklyn design, head over to From the Source by the waterfront on West Street. If the furniture looks familiar, that’s because it has appeared everywhere from Birreria at Eataly and the Gansevoort Park Hotel to Crate & Barrel. Much of the wood is reclaimed or sourced from Indonesia, which gives it that distinctive rustic feel. Walk through the huge warehouse and you’ll find plenty of spacious rooms great for shoots with an industrial edge.

On the same note, we would be remiss not to mention Glasserie on Commercial Street. Housed in a former glass factory, the brasserie-style restaurant serves Mediterranean-inspired seasonal fare. The dining room and bar are very atmospheric, but there’s something amazing about the interior courtyard, which has a little John Deere tractor parked inside. We wouldn’t be surprised to see fashion spreads shot in here.

It may seem a bit odd to include an elementary school on a list of photographic locations, but PS 31 on Meserole Avenue is such a gorgeous example of Beaux-Arts architecture that we just had to mention it. It’s also pretty amazing that en elementary school full of kids can maintain such a perfect white exterior. Anyway, you won’t find many elementary schools like it, making it a great place to photograph.

Finally, we just had to throw Dandelion Wine into the mix because it’s such a charming little shop. If you want to show you know your way around your Cabernets and Pinots, set up a little shoot in Dandy. Recommended bottles have handwritten tags with notes by the staff, who are truly dedicated to curating the best selection possible. They also host weekly wine and cheese tastings on Thursdays.

Stop by CSI Rentals for all your photo and video equipment rental needs. And stay tuned for CSI’s guide to Bushwick’s best photographic locations!