Cant afford studio, anyone work from their lounge with temporary set up?

ktowers

ktowers

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kate
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I shoot family/childrens portraits and at the moment either go on location, to customers homes or set up a temporary studio in my lounge area - is this acceptable do you think until i can afford a studio?
 
as long as your work merits the payment doesnt matter where its shot i guess!
 
If you own your house then fine if you are renting you need to be careful and make sure you are insured (i am sure you are but I thought I would mention it!) . If your clients are happy there should be no issue .
 
Have you considered hiring a studio for your shoots?

Ian
 
ktowers said:
I shoot family/childrens portraits and at the moment either go on location, to customers homes or set up a temporary studio in my lounge area - is this acceptable do you think until i can afford a studio?
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Call me a pedant, but I'm not sure what you're getting at. If you're already shooting this way at the moment, then it must be acceptable to your clients, and that surely is all that matters if they're paying you for a service? :shrug:
 
I am 'mobile' and one of the big selling points is that kids dont have to go to a studio or somewhere strange where they may get shy or anxious.
 
Kate,

Is this your business or a paying hobby ?

I started off using a local village hall for shoots and it was a faff. Unpacking and setting up took 45 minutes with 30 minutes tidying away at the end all for a 1 hour shoot. Mind you it did have lovely high ceilings and was a great big space with no spill problems.

The viewings then took place at my house and to be honest it all felt a bit amateurish. I ended up renting a studio at about £400 per month. The average value of orders at each viewing session has increased partly because I have example frames on the walls and also because it all just feels more professional.

If you want to make a business out of this it is worth considering how the client sees the arrangement and the impact it has on their perception.

Where abouts are you based ?
 
My customers dont seem to mind but i just feel my house is fairly small and not very professional looking, i cant realy afford £400 a month at the moment as my business is fairly new.
Never thought about hiring out a village hall but sounds like quite a good idea..
 
ktowers said:
My customers dont seem to mind but i just feel my house is fairly small and not very professional looking, i cant realy afford £400 a month at the moment as my business is fairly new.
Never thought about hiring out a village hall but sounds like quite a good idea..
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I've used a couple of local village halls/community centres with a mobile studio setup and been pretty pleased with the outcome. The first couple of times I just hired for enough time to do the shoot I had booked (plus put-up and take-down time) but on one occasion I had a couple of people stick their heads around the door and ask if they could get some photos taken too. Now I hire for a whole morning or afternoon and put up a sandwich board outside letting folks know I'm there plus get the local shops to put A4 posters in their windows the week before.

It's working out quite well ... so much so that I'm pretty much a regular fixture at a couple of places every 4 weeks, or so, and get special hire rates. Give it a try :)
 
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