New studio!

inTempus · Mar 7, 2009

So the contractor just left the house and gave us a quote that's quite reasonable for building a studio downstairs (currently an unfinished basement).

So, I'm going to have my very own studio in 3 weeks!

Now I need to come up with some ideas for lighting and layout of the stuff I will need. I have a lot of planning and pricing shopping to do, but I'm pretty stoked.

Here's the floor plan:

I'll be asking a ton of questions most likely here real soon about various electronics... Man, there's so much to do.

:thumbup:

Chairman7w · Mar 7, 2009

Nice! Congratulations - that's very cool.

inTempus · Mar 7, 2009

Thanks.

It took some arm twisting from the wife, but in the end it was the "it will add to the resale value of the home and it's an investment" strategy that worked.

She'll just be glad to have all of my photog stuff out of the main living area. My office will be down there now too so she can reclaim one of the larger rooms upstairs she's always wanted.

I'm pretty excited.

EhJsNe · Mar 7, 2009

Neato! Congratulations!

Youd definatly got a lot of work ahead of you.

Now...is the whole basement going to be your studio or just one room (I keep looking at the lower left room....just a perfect shape i guess....lol)???

Have fun!

inTempus · Mar 7, 2009

EhJsNe said:
Neato! Congratulations!

Youd definatly got a lot of work ahead of you.

Now...is the whole basement going to be your studio or just one room (I keep looking at the lower left room....just a perfect shape i guess....lol)???

Have fun!

Good question. Right now the actual studio will be in the room to the left. It will not have any windows. Just to the right of the wall there is a bank of windows. The area to the right will have a wet bar, television couch and other amenities to make it a nice place to hang out. I can also use it as a waiting area.

blash · Mar 7, 2009

Ah ok. Would've made more sense to turn the room on the left into a darkroom (you probably can still, but you'll have your computer next to some chemicals and stuff) but whatever - congratulations anyways!

Onion · Mar 7, 2009

you mean only the one room is the studio?

it only looks big enogh to eat pie.

inTempus · Mar 7, 2009

Onion said:
you mean only the one room is the studio?

it only looks big enogh to eat pie.

You got the memo, right?

I like pie.

inTempus · Mar 7, 2009

Ok, back to serious stuff...

I'm thinking I can outfit my studio with economy Alien Bee B800's. Start off with 3 of them, get some wireless triggers, a softbox, some umbrellas and do it for $1,200 or so.

It's that or an Elinchrom D-Lite 4 set for $980 then some triggers, boxes and umbrellas... I would be one light short of 3 and I would be going from 800w to 400w.

What do you guys think?

chrisburke · Mar 8, 2009

i would go with the alien bee set up.. they are a cheaper light, but they are good, which is why so many people speak praises of them...

thats gonna be a sweet studio/office dude, make sure you take pics of the work in progress.. some before/half way/after shots so we can see the transformation

inTempus · Mar 8, 2009

chrisburke said:
i would go with the alien bee set up.. they are a cheaper light, but they are good, which is why so many people speak praises of them...

Yeah, I think for the cost I'm heavily leaning towards the Bee's. Thanks for the input. They have a complete package with 4-B800's, softboxes, stands, everything but triggers for $1,600. It's a whole studio setup.

thats gonna be a sweet studio/office dude, make sure you take pics of the work in progress.. some before/half way/after shots so we can see the transformation

I can do that. That's a good idea. Most of the work will be done while I'm at work myself, but I'll take shots at night of the progress. We're getting starting this coming Wednesday.