If there’s one thing Marvin Hall, owner of Studio M Portraits, understands, it’s how to capture the moment within the moment. Hall has been a professional photographer for over 40 years. He has also lived and photographed in the Holt community for a number of years, as well as doing a lot of work in Grand Ledge and Lansing. Hall started Studio M Portraits in Holt over nine years ago.
Studio M specializes in corporate headshots, lifestyling portraits, individual branding, events, sports photography, and senior pictures. Hall has photographed many of the Grand Ledge and Holt schools sporting events over the years, as well as photographing for a website called The Only Colors, a sports website for Michigan State University, taking photos for many MSU sports.
But more than his wide variety of services and experience, one of the things that sets Hall and Studio M apart from other photographers is his physical studio space. “Back in the day there were a lot of brick and mortar studios,” says Hall. “It takes a bit more to run a studio. It’s more of an anomaly now. We have an actual facility where people can come in. I have a lot more things that I can do in the studio. I have lights, backgrounds, things you don’t have to lug around…I don’t have to set up or tear down. This way I’m not handicapped by time.” The physical studio also gives Hall a back-up space when weather doesn’t cooperate. “I don’t have to worry about outdoor sessions. If I need to do it indoors I have the facility to do it.”
As Hall shares his craft with the community and helps capture important moments in time, one thing he tries to advocate for is physical prints of their pictures. “A statistic I read three or four years ago said that in 2025, half or three quarters of the photos taken will be forgotten,” says Hall. “People take pictures with cell phones and they crash, things get deleted or stolen. It’s a lot harder to misplace your wedding album or 16×20 print. It’s something you can look back on. It’s a lost art.”
One of the ways Studio M likes to share these physical photos, especially for graduating seniors, is through banners. These make great additions at graduation parties, but Hall finds that people hold onto the banners for many years, allowing them to live vicariously in those moments again, five, 10, even 15 years later.
Studio M Portraits is located at 2006 Cedar Street, Suite 2 in Holt, 517.709.3757, studiomportraits.com. Studio hours are by appointment only.