Blog Notes

Tweet From my next post onwards this blog will strictly be a blog about professional photography. It will be filled with gear reviews, book reviews, lighting tips, and business tips. It will no longer contain personal post or post about my personal photography. Those post will be moving to my new blog on my new website. Tomorrow I will officially launch my new website. I will post a blog post on this site so that everyone can follow me on that blog too. I hope that prophoto101 can become a greater resource for photographers. I have a ton of new content planed for this blog.

Studio (stu*di*o) Pronunciation /ˈst(y)o͞odēˌō, ˈst(j)udiˌoʊ

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1. a room where an artist, photographer, sculptor, ect., works.  

A studio is an integral part of a commercial photographer’s life. The studio is used as an office, storage, and place to hold a shoot. A studio is a photographer’s personal workspace. I have been looking to get into a good photography studio, but I have found studios are expensive. The average cost to rent a studio for a half day in Nashville, TN is $300. That is a hefty price tag for 4-6 hours of usage, especially if you are shooting a headshot for $500. It’s hard to justify that additional cost to a client.

Some studios allow monthly renters where photographers pay a set monthly fee for using the studio for 4-5days a month. Often times these studios will also offer office space. The problem is in these studios photographers’ personalities are always butting heads and there are always scheduling problems.

I have been in the search for the perfect photo studio for several months. I want a place where I can work everyday. I want to have my own office and my own storage space. I want to be able to have a studio that I can call my own. Unfortunately the options that I have found in Nashville do not a good fit for me right now, especially when it comes down to cost.

2010 in Review

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I’m very pleased to announce that 2010 was the biggest year yet for Nick Bumgardner Photography. My business grew exponentially in 2010 and I have to thank my clients, friends, and family for that growth.  

In 2010 I added several photographers to the list that I assist including Mark Seliger, Wolf Hoffman, Dean Dixon, Kristina Krug, BauDu Design, Matthew Welsh, and Ryan Beyni to name a few. I worked on some absolutely incredible projects with the photographers mentioned above. Photographs from shoots with the above photographers have appeared all over the national media. I was able to be a part of those shoots and help to assist the photographers and in some cases design the lighting for the shoot or do production work.    

I also expanded my services to include digital tech. I became proficient with Capture One and also with the new Light Room 3 software. I was able to provide real time tech help to photographers on set. This helps to ease the stress on the photographer during the shoot and can also ease the worries of the client on set. When the client can see the photos in real time pop up on the monitor it allows them to have a better feel for the shoot.  

I also maintained great working relationships with the photographers that I have assisted since before 2010.  

I greatly expanded my portfolio this year both through testing with models and on some amazing shoots that I did for clients. I added a number of clients to my roster this year including ABC and Vanderbilt University.

This year also saw several new introductions to my equipment line up. I purchased a Really Right Stuff BH-55 tripod head, Elinchrome ElOcta box, two California Sun Bounce 4x8 reflectors, a Razzle 4x5 camera, and a new Mac Book Pro. The equipment that I purchased this year helped to smooth out my workflow and give my clients more and better options.

I also gained a lot of business savvy. I read tons of business books in 2010 including: Freakonomics, Getting Things Done, The Go-Getter, QBQ The Question Behind the Question, Strengths Finder 2.0, The Tipping Point, and ZAG. I have placed reviews of several of these books on this blog. I will be reviewing the remaining books on this list on this blog later this year.  

2010 was such a great success, I can only hope that 2011 will be just as good.