About Us
Deadly Duvalls is a horror photography studio based in Los Angeles. We make portraits for people who love the genre as much as we do — slashers, final girls, cosplayers, performers, and anyone with an idea too strange for a normal photographer.
Est. 2024 Our Story
Deadly Duvalls started the way most good things in horror start: with a couple of people who could not stop talking about the genre, a pile of masks, and far too many opinions about lighting.
What we found was that horror fans kept getting the same disappointing photos — flat convention-hallway flash, or a general portrait photographer politely humoring the costume. Nobody was lighting these characters like they belonged in the movie they came from. So we started doing it ourselves.
Today we shoot horror and dark editorial, horror pin-up and glamour, and concept-driven portraits out of Los Angeles, for clients across Southern California and beyond. Some come with a fully built cosplay and a shot list. Some come with a sentence and a feeling. Both are welcome — genuinely, the half-formed idea is our favorite email to get.
We keep it fun on set. Horror is supposed to be a good time, and a shoot that feels like a chore looks like one. Expect direction, music, terrible jokes between setups, and images that look like a film still.
The Duvalls
Two people, one very specific obsession. This is who you'll be working with — no rotating roster, no handoff to an assistant.
Photographer
The one behind the camera. Josh builds the lighting, runs the set, and has strong feelings about where the hard light should land. He directs every shoot from the first frame to the last, which is why people who have never modeled walk out with images that look like a film still.
Creative Director
The one who decides what the picture is about. Paula develops the concepts, styles the shoots, and turns a half-formed idea in your DMs into a set, a palette, and a shot list. She also runs the edit, so the images you get back look the way they felt on set.
How We Work
01
Real haze, real hard light, real blood. We reach for a gel and a fog machine before we reach for a plugin, because practical light lands differently and everybody can tell.
02
Nobody arrives knowing what to do with their hands. We direct every shoot start to finish, so you don't need experience — you just need to show up.
03
We're not a general portrait studio moonlighting in horror for October. We live in this genre year round, and it shows in the references, the props, and the lighting.
04
If your idea won't photograph the way you're picturing it, we'll say so before you book, and then we'll tell you what would work instead.
The Basics
In the best possible way. Tell us what you're planning.
