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.

Evernote Review

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I couple of weeks ago I wrote a review of David Allen's Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.  As a companion and implementation tool I use Evernote available for free at www.evernote.com.

Evernote is a digital, take everywhere, filing cabinet. I use Evernote multiple times a day across multiple platforms.  Evernote is available for Mac, PC, iPad, iPod, iPhone, and Android.  Evernote allows you as it says on their website to capture an idea, access it everywhere, and find it fast.  Evernote allows you to synch your info in its cloud and it allows you to access it from any computer over the internet, your desktop, and other mobil solutions.

Evernote allows the user to have a giant well organized filing cabinet with out any mess.  You do not have to worry about sending the files from one computer to another that has already been done the software will sync itself.  Evernote allows you to create text notes, web clips, pdf, snapshots, and audio clips.  Evernote allows you to create a virtual treasure trove of information ok.... so what about organization?

Evernote allows an amazing amount of organization with a simple layout.  Evernote gives you three basic tools for organization: tags, notes, and notebooks.  In my Evernote system I have nested tags that help me get everything organized.

Evernote allows the user to create web clips which is really handy when you are without internet say on a long flight.  I will often clip a webpage that I want to read but do not have time to and put it in a tag on Evernote of To Be Read and then it will sync with all of my computers when they are connected to the web.  Later when I am without a internet connection I have that saved webpage ready in my Evernote on my laptop.

I have been using Evernote for about six months and I can say that it has helped me to be come more efficient.  It has helped me to remember more things.  It is a great program and is very useful.  Photographers this is a great project management tool.  If you do a quick web search you can find a ton of resources about how to implement a solid Evernote system.

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com

Tweet Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com

This morning on twitter I found a link to the above video. It is a great inspiring video about leadership. The tweet was from Dave Ramsey who I think embodies the golden circle concept brought up in the video.

Client First

Tweet I have spent a lot of time as a photographer’s assistant. One of the things that I have noticed about photographer success is that photographers that have a “I'm the boss” attitude seem not to be as successful, while photographers that have a “clients first” approach seem to do very well. Photographers who listen to their clients and then take what the client says and offer their own advice do even better. It is not enough to only bring your creative juices to the table. Photographers have to listen to their clients, the wants of the client and the needs of the client. And not just pay those wants and needs lip service, but use them and put them into action on a daily basis. A photographer is not just a technician, but an engaged, creative professional that relies a great deal on the client in many different ways.

What Nick Uses

Tweet People ask me all the time "What gear do you use?" This is a post dedicated to the gear that I use.

Canon EOS 1DMKIII

Canon 24mm f1.4

Canon 50mm f1.4

Canon 85mm f1.8

Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS

2 Alien Bee 800s

2 White Lightening Ultrazap 800s

1 Elinchrom Ranger RX AS Speed with S Head

Vivitar 285HV

Canon 580 EXII

2 Alien Bee foldable medium sized soft boxes

1 Alien Bee Beauty Dish

1 Speed-o-tron Beauty Dish adapted to Elinchrom mount

1 Elinchrom Deep Throat

1 Elinchrom shoot though umbrella

1 Westcot grey 24in umbrella

1 Alien Bee 64in PLM

1 Elinchrom ELOcta

2 4x8 California Sunboucne

Reflectors both the real photographic thing and rescue blankets

Pelican 1510 case for camera

Storm case of some sort for Alien Bees

Melvin and Moon grip bag

Old Tenba stand bag-way to heavy

Grip Stuff

Super clamps

Unbrella adaptors

Silks

A Clamps

Gaff Tape

A lot of extension cords

Power splitters

24in 2.7ghz iMac with 4gb of ram

Photoshop CS3

Lightroom 2.4

Adobe DNG Converter

Adobe Bridge CS3

Wacom Intous 3 6x8 Tablet

Sandisk Cardreader

Sandisk Extreme III cards both SD and CF

Gepke card case

A slew of hard drives from Western Digital, Sandisk, Maxtor and others.

Domke F1X

Domke F6

Domke F803 Rugged Wear

The above is the gear that I use pretty much everytime that I shoot. Below I have a list of suplimental gear that I use when I shoot for fun or when required by a client

Olympus RD-35

Toyo View C 4x5

Calumet 120mm f3.5

Mamiya 645 1000s

Mamiya 80mm f2.8

Mamiya 45mm f2.8

Tenba Road Case

Razzle 900

I buy the gear that I need to get the job done. From time to time I also rent gear. I use www.lensrentals.com to rent gear.

This is just a quick run down. I plan on posting a more complete list with pictures and maybe a few reviews later down the road.

Nick