[Pat]

April 19, 2013 at 7:13 am

Hi, congratulations !

Will you be renting a premises to work out of ? If you are watch out for unexpected costs. I didn’t read my lease agreement properly and later realised I was liable for rates and water charges. That plus my first electricity bill almost blew the roof off my new studio. These things can break you and can take the pleasure out if the venture as well. As soon as I opened I found myself bombarded with sales people as well trying to sell me everything from training to ink to software. This is the business side revealing itself in all it’s glory, you should be prepared for that because it has nothing to do with making pictures and can potentially rob you of your dream of owning your own studio.

That said it is a great experience being able to enter through your own studio door every day so enjoy it as well. Good luck !

[Pat]

January 1, 2013 at 6:34 pm

Hi Helen,

I would say the dimensions you quoted should be fine. Yes it will be a little compact especially if you’ve got no other rooms off the main studio but if this is your first studio it’ll do the trick for you. It’s important to consider your ceiling clearance as well, depending on what your lighting and other equipment setup will be. Also you might want to consider how you’re going to heat the room. Unless you’re going to be photographing fruit I’d say a bunch if freezing subjects won’t look their best in the pics :) Electricity supply as well is another thing to think about.

[Pat]

October 28, 2012 at 6:50 am

Martin Devlin wrote:

Hi Pat you did not say wheither you invested in a flash meter and from your statement ‘Some Experimentation’ suggests that you have not invested in one. I would suggest that it be your next and most immediate purchase as you can not balance your lights correctly without one. and without one you will never master multiple head flash photography.

Hi Martin,

Recently I did my first studio shoot and I did buy a meter for that. Like you said, without it I might have been groping around in the dark. :D A very useful (and essential) piece of kit.

[Pat]

October 9, 2012 at 8:27 am

Personally I use Lee holders and filters. Have used Cokin P, found them ok but maybe a bit flimsy. The Lee gear has much more substance to it and I feel more comfortable using them. Not the cheapest out there but they should last you a lifetime if taken care of.

[Pat]

October 9, 2012 at 8:24 am

TwinFlash wrote:

I think you are using modeling (continuous) light to read your exposure value witch is wrong and then when you press shutter, flash fire and you pictures are over exposure, is that right ??

I wasn’t doing anything at the time I wrote this post as I didn’t own any lights and had never used them. However since then I did buy a set of Bowen lights and have used them.

I think I answered my own question. You are correct in that I was confused about how the lights worked, exposure value with modelling lights on and then the flash on top of that when the picture is taken. Some experimentation and I worked out how to get correct exposure. Trial and error, lesson learnt – never go on a real shoot without knowing your gear !

[Pat]

October 5, 2012 at 7:08 am

Thank you Paul, really appreciate the advice.

[Pat]

October 3, 2012 at 8:38 pm

Appreciate your insight Barker. Generally for even the most minor of purchases I’ve done a lot of research on what result I want to achieve and what will help me get that result. And I would always welcome an enquiry from the dealer where they just want to help out. I guess the reason Bermingham’s got up my nose is because they don’t tend to offer an alternative solution, more like they’ll say “that’s no good for you” and then not tell me why or offer another product or tip.

Anyway never mind. It hasn’t damaged my passion for photography and that’s the main thing ;)

[Pat]

September 18, 2012 at 7:13 am

If you did manage to retrieve them I wonder what you could sell them for ?! 8)

Only 12 of them in the world and they come with a sprinkling of moon dust. Hundreds of thousands each surely …..

[Pat]

September 17, 2012 at 4:47 pm

Cheers mate, great tip. :wink:

[Pat]

September 15, 2012 at 6:01 pm

My walkabout is a Tamron 24-70mm f2.8. I think it’s the bees knees. Bought it about a month ago and very pleased with the results.

[Pat]

September 15, 2012 at 8:56 am

I’ve found the one behind Brown Thomas to be fairly good to be honest. It’s the one near O’Connell Bridge that has pissed me off more than once. The older guy in there – maybe he’s the owner ? – he’s always treated and looked at me like I’m mad or something. On one occasion I was mid sentence explaining what I wanted when he turned his head to one of the staff and said “can you look after this ?” and just walked off. I should mention that I’ve spent close to 10 grand in that shop since July. So to me, this treatment is not on. I was wanting just a set of Cokin filters that day, however on the day I was buying my D4 he was over like a hot snot. Still looked at me with suspicion though as I was putting the camera through its paces in the shop like he thought i was kicking tyres and wasn’t going to buy it but maybe it says something like he’ll deal with you if you’re buying a D4 but not a piddly set of filters.

[Pat]

August 19, 2012 at 1:21 am

Cheers, appreciate the response ;)