For many photographers, there comes a point where you think about opening your
own studio. It's a daunting step forwards and one
that requires careful consideration. I reached that point 25 years ago and
over the years I gradually grew to where I am today.
If you're thinking about opening your own studio there are a few
important things to consider. Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this video.
Use coupon code Karl to get a 10% discount. Before making the commitment of
buying or leasing your own studio you need to think about the value it
will add to your business. How much use will you make of it? How
often will you use your studio? Do you have enough business coming in to
warrant the additional expenses? If you're unsure whether you'll be able
to afford your own studio you might want to consider sharing or
renting it out as this will help spread the costs.
With my own studio, we often rent the space per day for filming projects
or as a venue for events which has generated an extra source of
income which helps subsidize our annual rent.
Can you make your studio work for you and will you make the most of it
or will it be sitting idle for half of the year?
Location. It's important you find a location that works not only for you,
but for potential clients as well. Does the studio have
off-street or nearby parking that you and your clients can use?
Another thing to consider especially if you shoot larger products is
accessibility. How easily can you get items into the
studio? Working on the fourth floor won't be
ideal if you're planning on being a car photographer!
Space. When it comes to the right space bigger
isn't necessarily better especially when it comes to paying for it.
It's important to find the right balance between size
and cost. Think about whether the studio is big enough to fit all your kit,
what storage space is available and whether you can comfortably work
in that space. The primary consideration is what is your target market and what
space does that require? If you frequently meet with clients you
might want to consider whether the space offers an area for a meeting
room and what facilities such as bathrooms or kitchens it offers. If you
seldom have the client with you while you shoot,
these may not be a priority for you. If your focus is fashion and beauty,
do you have adequate space for makeup and changing areas?
All of these will convey a greater degree of professionalism
rather than some temporary poly boards for your model to change behind.
Having your own studio buying versus renting.
As a photographer, you don't usually start out with a 3,000 square foot
studio. My first studio all those years ago was
about 200 square feet. I'm now on my fifth studio and I've
slowly built that up over the years to where i am today.
So why does this work for me? Well realistically I don't need
all this space, 1500 square foot of shooting space would be
more than adequate for most of my commercial work
but investing in this larger space allowed for the growth of our
photography training business and expansion into video work and
automotive photography. It has also meant we've been able to hold
LIVE talk shows and workshops as well as film more
content for our education website. Together this has made the additional
space an asset rather than just a luxury. I found my
current studio, whilst it was still in the construction phase, which meant I
also had the opportunity to make my own requests and changes.
That's another plus to owning your own studio
you can change it as you like one of the features we've installed in ours is an
infinity cove or cyclorama which many of our members will
be familiar with having watched our courses. If you'd like
to know how we built it i'll post a link to another video we
have on creating your own infiniti cove. Further advantages of owning your own
studio include having your own space and equipment at hand
should you want to experiment and expand your skills
or work on images for your portfolio. A well-located studio will also allow
for increased exposure and the amount of foot traffic that you
receive. While having a large space has its pros
it also has its cons too! From a business perspective, a larger
studio usually works out better value money per square foot but it is more
expensive overall because the larger space means the total annual rent
is much higher. Having to pay overheads such as maintenance,
insurance and even heating also increase with a bigger space.
Staff salaries mean your expenses will be higher
and it's important you factor these costs into your calculations
when determining your budget for a studio.
Also remember that the final fit-out costs for your studio can be very high.
For example the construction of your cove, storage areas,
heating, office space, networks, furniture etc.
meant that our initial investment was hundreds of thousands of dollars
and that was without any photography equipment. More information on how to
determine your business costs can be found in our business section on Karl
Taylor Education along with other useful information such
as pricing, marketing and other important business
skills. Investing in your own studio is a huge
financial commitment so it's important to determine what you
can afford to spend each month. If you find the revenue generated from
your work is not much higher than your expenditure
it might be worth considering other options.
So what are these options? Well if you're determined to own your own studio
you might want to consider having a smaller studio
and renting larger ones on a daily basis when needed.
I know a number of very successful photographers who do this
including product and liquid photographer Barry Makariou
and liquid specialist David Lund both of whom have featured on our live
talk shows. This is often a more financially viable
option that offers the best of both worlds. They use their small studio for
tests and pre-shoots and then use a larger rental one for the
main project. Rental studios.
Short-term rental studios offer much greater financial freedom
as it allows you to rent according to your budget.
You can minimize costs by renting as and when you need.
It allows you greater flexibility too. You can rent for a half-day
or more and only rent the space you need. A rental studio also means you can work
from anywhere in the world. Most major cities such as New York
London, Paris Shanghai or Barcelona all have rental
studios. Many of which are linked to equipment
rental houses too and often offer a number of different
studios that you can choose from. I'll run through some of the choices
large and small which suits different budgets. In the UK
and London I've worked at some of the following studios in the past:
The Works this is one of London's leading studio facilities
with 30,000 square foot of space spread over
eight or nine studios. Park Village Studios
is a great building consisting of a main single space
of around 2,700 square foot with a great J shaped infinity cove plus they have
two other smaller studios. Spring Studios, another London operation
with a variety of contemporary industrial spaces with lots of light
available. If needed Junction 11, a base close to
Oxford with large studio spaces and fully equipped
and even suitable for automotive photography.
In New York, Spring Studios also have a presence with
excellent facilities and others worth a mention
are Sandbox in Lower Manhattan and great facilities can also be found
at Light Space Studios in Brooklyn. Some great space with excellent natural light
can also be found at Canoe Studios with a variety of spaces spread over two
locations. In Paris I've worked at Pin.Up Studios
where they have a choice of eight indoor spaces and three rooftop areas,
great staff, and a friendly atmosphere. They're based in the 14th Arrondissement.
And also worth a mention are Le Studio Moderne
not far from Place de la Bastille. Prices for rental studios can vary
quite dramatically but are sometimes negotiable
especially if booking for several days. Most of the ones I've just listed will
charge approximately £1000 per day
for 2,000 to 3,000 square feet
and that's without equipment. Now these costs are obviously added to your
clients invoice. If you're on a much tighter budget, more
recently there have been many independent smaller studios offering
rental at lower rates. These are often photographers who have
their own studios and are using them to earn extra revenue
or they might be less expensive because they are smaller
or not so conveniently located. A couple worth a mention
in London are YoYo studios owned and run by fashion and portrait photographer
David Yeo. 69 Drops Studio and
MS Photo Studios who list their competitive rates
on their website. There are plenty to choose from,
you can even find monthly rentals if you need to build your portfolio for example
or have a longer project. Capital Studios are one of those
offering monthly rentals in London but I'm sure
a quick Google search and you'll find similar
in most major cities. Do remember though that studio space is just
that... space - it doesn't come with equipment. If you're looking for
specialized lighting equipment many of the larger studios have
equipment rental partners or if not they will be able to recommend
equipment rental companies. These companies will
deliver the items you need to the studio of your choice. Here's some
popular equipment rental houses in London,
New York and Paris. In London the Pro Center, Direct Digital,
and the Flash Center. In New York Focus Gear, Foto Care
and Adorama Rentals and in Paris, Direct Digital,
and PhotoCineRent and it's worth mentioning that Direct Digital
also have a range of associated studios and equipment rentals in several major
cities. So what will work for you? When it comes
to owning or renting a photography studio
only you can decide which option will work for you.
The points above should provide a guide and help you weigh up the positives and
negatives of each. Having your own studio is a business
risk and a major commitment. Before you go down this route you have
to be confident that you will be able to make a success of it
and i'd always recommend hiring a studio for a day
to get the feel of what a large space can do for you
or at least help you decide what space you need.
If you're planning on starting out with your own small studio
then I have another video on our channel about how to work in a small studio
space where i offer advice on controlling
light, storage and the working area but if you
want the very best information that i can provide
then you will find that on my platform on KarlTaylorEducation.
I hope you found this useful, give us a thumbs up if you did
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