new studio questions

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cameradaft

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Kenny
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Hi I am about to take the plunge an move into a small studio, I primarily do portable portraits at the moment so this is a big step.
I have a few questions,

1. I currently use article white papaer, however easy damaged, marked etc, so I would
Ike to either use vinyl, plywood painted or plasterboard, I have seen another thread where the chap had put strapping on the walls and screwed either plasterboard and plywood....thoughts please

2. I am about to buy a Lencarta smartflash 4 head kit, I see it comes with a trigger kit, on looking further, its 1 TX and 1 rx, will this be sufficient for 4 heads 3 pn slave sync? I note the sensor is on top of the head unlike my current heads where the sensor is on the back. The slave sometime do sent fire, so I invested in 2 rx and solved the problem.

3. On my opening weekend, I am looking to have a 2 day shoot for 10 family's, each having a 2 hour slot, £20 shoot fee and special photo packages etc, is this too ambitious, advice and thoughts please. The reason for hitying it hard at the start is I want to weed out any issues early....thoughts please.

4 am I mad doing this in the current climate¿¿¿¿¿
 
Don't worry about extra radio receivers, you won't need them with the SmartFlash as long as the receiver is plugged into a head that's fitted with a broad light modifier, i.e. a softbox or umbrella, not a honeycomb or spot.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Don't worry about extra radio receivers, you won't need them with the SmartFlash as long as the receiver is plugged into a head that's fitted with a broad light modifier, i.e. a softbox or umbrella, not a honeycomb or spot.
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Cheers Garry, that's 1 question on my list answered
 
1. Other people here know way more than me about plywood and battening and stuff. Personally I'd get an Xpan and 4 rolls of paper.

2. What Garry said. But personally I prefer RF602 triggers to the Lencarta ones. One Tx and 3 Rx will cost you about 50 quid so if you hit problems then you can double up. And if you break one you have spares.

3. 20 hours' solid shooting for £400....? Plus post and proofing. That's a couple of weeks' work right there for £400. Up to you.... I suspect you may find difficulty getting families to book for a 2 hour session. And especially filling some sticky times of day. 45 mins with 15 mins between might be more appealing. Don't forget you'll need somebody else to welcome the next family when they are early. And some slack for when they turn up late.

4. Dunno. Lots of people will start a business today. A few of them will still be here in 3 years. Conventional wisdom is that a really good understanding of (1) your product/services (2) your place in the market and (3) how to run a business will tip the balance. Which of those is your weakest?
 
JonathanRyan said:
1. Other people here know way more than me about plywood and battening and stuff. Personally I'd get an Xpan and 4 rolls of paper.

2. What Garry said. But personally I prefer RF602 triggers to the Lencarta ones. One Tx and 3 Rx will cost you about 50 quid so if you hit problems then you can double up. And if you break one you have spares.



3. 20 hours' solid shooting for £400....? Plus post and proofing. That's a couple of weeks' work right there for £400. Up to you.... I suspect you may find difficulty getting families to book for a 2 hour session. And especially filling some sticky times of day. 45 mins with 15 mins between might be more appealing. Don't forget you'll need somebody else to welcome the next family when they are early. And some slack for when they turn up late.


4. Dunno. Lots of people will start a business today. A few of them will still be here in 3 years. Conventional wisdom is that a really good understanding of (1) your product/services (2) your place in the market and (3) how to run a business will tip the balance. Which of those is your weakest?
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Thanks for your reply....my thoughts:
1. I am willing to look at all options, im hating paper just now because its so easy to mark, rip, i have had a few kid kick the background and it gets torn at the top, so the next shoot looks less proffesional with a taped tear, the other way to sort it is to cut off 4 meters and bin it which is costly.
2. I was talking about the lencarta one as the 4 head kit comes with it included. I am currently using some e bay ones which are good most the time but major annoying when they fire off on their own, a bit unnerving for clients too.
3. My grand plan when I had this vision last week was 32 family’s over sat/sun, to have a meeter greeter, also a pal to let people review the photos and place an order there and then. 9am-9pm both days, £20 shoot fee plus if everyone spends a min of £30, makes around £1600 . then I thought what if people run late, kids won’t settle etc, is a 45 min slot with 15 mins spare a bit tight, so then I thought about having a 2 hour slot (they don’t know that) and have a 1 hour shoot roughly and then I can spend some time selling the images myself before the next lot turn up. I have 8 family’s already interested, this was the reason for my plan

4. I guess I could improve on all 3, I have a pretty sound business head, I’m pretty good with children and families (its been said blush), I started the business in September and its been pretty good so far, but feel I need a base to shoot from. I will still do a few portable visits but would like to be mainly studio and grow it from there.
 
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Yes, paper is a very expensive option, although it becomes much cheaper if you go for 50m rolls (which are very heavy).

I feel that you may be a bit unrealistic about your timetable, and you also need to allow for no-shows, no-buys and other timewasters - when you're dealing with the general public you have to expect people to be far less committed to the shoot than you are. It may be a good idea for you to post these questions in the business forum.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Yes, paper is a very expensive option, although it becomes much cheaper if you go for 50m rolls (which are very heavy).

I feel that you may be a bit unrealistic about your timetable, and you also need to allow for no-shows, no-buys and other timewasters - when you're dealing with the general public you have to expect people to be far less committed to the shoot than you are. It may be a good idea for you to post these questions in the business forum.
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Garry,
Do you have any experience shooting onto board or plaster painted matt white? if you have wiould be good to know your thoughts.

I totally see where your coming from regards the event, I would be taking the booking fee up from via my website of payapal etc, if they no show, then thats their loss. I am just trying to design a way to start with a bang and firstly get people talking but also to give the new venture a boost at the start.
Thanks for all your comments, much appreciated
 
cameradaft said:
Garry,
Do you have any experience shooting onto board or plaster painted matt white? if you have wiould be good to know your thoughts.

I totally see where your coming from regards the event, I would be taking the booking fee up from via my website of payapal etc, if they no show, then thats their loss. I am just trying to design a way to start with a bang and firstly get people talking but also to give the new venture a boost at the start.
Thanks for all your comments, much appreciated
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You mean a cyclorama? This video may be useful if you ignore the 'craftswoman' - poor girl spent all her money on materials and couldn't afford clothes:)

Yes, used them many times. The only slight drawback, apart from space, is that you're constantly touching up the surface with a paint roller. In fact, on large commercial shoots, there's someone wandering around with a roller pretty well all the time.
 
Garry Edwards said:
You mean a cyclorama? This video may be useful if you ignore the 'craftswoman' - poor girl spent all her money on materials and couldn't afford clothes:)

Yes, used them many times. The only slight drawback, apart from space, is that you're constantly touching up the surface with a paint roller. In fact, on large commercial shoots, there's someone wandering around with a roller pretty well all the time.
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LOL that really brightend up my afternoon...... maybe not quite that level. However if I was getting that done, she could do it with pleasure lol

I'm thinking about initially big roll of paper or vinyl, I've heard vinyl can give hotspots though...

Thanks
 
Garry Edwards said:
You mean a cyclorama? This video may be useful if you ignore the 'craftswoman' - poor girl spent all her money on materials and couldn't afford clothes:)

Yes, used them many times. The only slight drawback, apart from space, is that you're constantly touching up the surface with a paint roller. In fact, on large commercial shoots, there's someone wandering around with a roller pretty well all the time.
Click to expand...

Does she do call outs or homers?
:love:
 
I'm not usually a fan of DIY videos
I'm not sure what it is, but I really enjoyed that :lol:
 
BruceMo said:
I'm not usually a fan of DIY videos
I'm not sure what it is, but I really enjoyed that :lol:
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It was like one of these carslberg adverts lol. I personally think she was wearing to much, that must have been a health and saftey issue lol
 
Try 8x4 sheets of 2" polystyrene very quick, very light. Can be glued,taped or pegged . Make sure you use white tape to seal the edges.
 
Cyc wall or infinity wall would be good lasts for ever and to clean just paint again.
 
Steve T said:
Try 8x4 sheets of 2" polystyrene very quick, very light. Can be glued,taped or pegged . Make sure you use white tape to seal the edges.
Click to expand...

Would I be right in guessing the polystyrene wouldn't be that strong?
 
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