Our Cool Shared Studio,
Utopia Imagery Studios
Hey friends. The “Utopia Imagery Studios” is now open!!! This is a studio for us all, those who either can’t afford the expensive stuff or just want to do great creative work in an open and inviting environment… economically.
In order to do that, Utopia needs to have quasi-partners, or “affiliates” who commit to ongoing monthly hours through plans that are affordable and make sense for the advanced hobbyist or starting pro. These plans are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. They are commitments that require a 90-day notice for termination or you find someone to take your slot. This assures your time will always be there, as well as the support from fellow photogs!
THE SPACE:
The space is on Industry Road (the old drag strip) between Lexington and Nicholasville. It’s easy to find, and both clean and well maintained. It has a front office, a bathroom, and a large, open room with a high ceiling.
Front room is 10 x 20 and is an office type space. It houses our Hair and Makeup Station, the computer/photo printing equipment, and bathroom. We will also use it for client interviews, looking at proof images, etc. The backroom or the “WhiteRoom” is a bright white space with a white concrete floor and has lots of white shelving for equipment and props. Did I mention the room is all white? The back is about 40 by 20 and has a garage-style door for loading equipment out or props in.
THE GEAR:
We currently have 5 – 300 Watt studio strobes with Bowens mounts. For these, we have 2 – 48” octoboxes with honeycombs, one 62” strip box with diffusers and honeycomb, 3 – 7” reflectors with 3 honeycombs, colored diffusers, and more. 3 snoots with 3 honeycombs, and colored gels. These have a great deal of flexibility and lighting options.
Utopia Imagery Studios has two complete umbrella setups, both shoot through and silver reflectors. We have over a dozen speedlights, with a half dozen different trigger systems, including high-speed sync (up to 1/8000 sec) setups. There are many colored gels for these as well for doing different lighting techniques and moods.
We sport 10’ x 20’ backdrops in black, white, and green as well as several smaller vinyl backdrops as well as seamless paper backdrops. The studio has a half dozen backdrop/gear stands.
Included is an array of continuous lighting setups, with a custom DIY remote dimmer controller (my favorite for food or still life!) Softboxes with daylight balanced, dimmable lights, DIY snoots,
We have three LED panels, each battery or AC Powered. We have several smaller LED panels for fill light on smaller subjects.
The studio has an array of reflectors (including 8’,) both white and black V flats, and other full-size modifiers.
We are set up with tethered shooting ability for Canon currently and will be adding other camera system flavors as needed. This is a small computer with a larger LCD screen. We also feature a 52″ shoot monitor (TV) that can be moved anywhere in the studio for creative directors or others to view the shoot basically real-time.
OTHER STUFF
We have a professional photo printer… a Pixma Pro-10. The studio has trimmers, mat cutters, and may soon even have glass cutters.
We have a Pluto Trigger for drip, laser tripped, and lighting photography, a Trigger Trap (Canon) and a CamRanger (Limited availability as it is in use frequently.) We’ve even got kinda crazy things like fake ice, small smoke generators, atmosphere spray, and more special effect tools. Other amenities include a serious sound system, complete with an old top of the line BIC turntable and SONY cassette abilities. Why this? Our ability to set a mood, create an environment, make the setting for a great photoshoot.
We have a small fridge and a microwave. We plan to get a large fridge (with ice maker) and a convection/toaster oven… maybe even a full-sized oven as we do food photography regularly.
The fridge will have a stock of beer and white wine… always… ha!
Here’s how it works:
First, let’s talk about terms we’ll use in describing our cool studio.
THE DEFINITIONS:
PREMIUM PRIME TIME – Saturday, all Day
Sunday, 1:00 – 10:00
PRIME TIME – Weekday evenings, 5:00 – 11:00
Sunday AM-1:00
STANDARD TIME – Everything NOT in the above
HOUSE EQUIPMENT – Softboxes, reflectors, snoots, backdrops, stands, speedlights,
continuous lights/softboxes, projectors, backdrops, etc (Food prep equipment, props, cameras NOT included)
COMMUNAL EQUIPMENT – Fridge, Microwave (NOT the cooking equipment)
THE PLANS:
Gold Plan (2 total available, odd month even month first time slot selection):
$100.00 / Month Due no later than the 20th of the previous month.
8 Hours PREMIUM PRIME TIME
6 Hours PRIME TIME
12 Hours STANDARD TIME
Silver Plan (6 total available, time slots first selection defined by month 1-6 7-12):
$75.00 / Month Due no later than the 20th of the previous month.
6 Hours PREMIUM PRIME TIME
6 Hours PRIME TIME
12 Hours STANDARD TIME
Bronze Plan (6 total available):
$50.00 / Month Due no later than the 20th of the previous month.
3 Hours PREMIUM PRIME TIME
6 Hours PRIME TIME
8 Hours STANDARD TIME
Buy Up. After all affiliates have reserved their hours, owned hours can be used to “buy up” to better hours. 3 Standard hours = 1 Premium Prime hour. 2 standard hours = 1 Prime hour. 2 Standard hours and 1 Prime hours = 1 Premium Prime hour. These are reserved when ‘cashed in.’
Unused hours carry over only 1 month and may be reserved after the normal month reservations are done.
If more than 2 people are interested in gold plans, we will delete 2 of the offered/available silver plans.
OPEN STUDIO RATES:
Open Rates (not part of the affiliates plan) are available for general rental AFTER Affiliates have made their reservations.
PREMIUM PRIME TIME $25.00/hr
BASIC PRIME TIME $20.00/hr
STANDARD TIME $10.00/hr
All prime reservations must be completed by the five days before the first of the month. After the 5 days before, you can use standard hours and “buy up” prime hours reserved. After the first of the month you can “buy up” any unreserved prime time at any time.
Premium and Prime times must be in three or more hour blocks unless reserved after the first of the month.
SELLING YOUR TIME:
You may sell your time, preferably at the Open Studio Rates… however you must be present when that time is used to assure the equipment is used properly, no damages are done, etc. If you have confidence in the person buying your hours, and you’ve been with them for one session, you may allow them to “go it alone” but a specific door code would need to be issued. You would be responsible for damage or missing equipment.
ACCESS:
The Key Code on the front door changes every month, and only those paid are given the code. That is sent by email.
ALLOWED PHOTOGRAPHY AND ACCESS:
We will not allow pornographic, hate fostering, or any other illegal work to be done in this studio, so do not sell time to someone trying to do that type of work. It is preferred that even “tasteful nude” work not be done by those outside of our affiliate group, for safety sake. Art nude work may be done by affiliates, but when the time is being reserved, it needs to be noted so other affiliates do not enter the studio during that time. There will be a methodology for alerting anyone attempting to enter the studio that sensitive work is being done and not to enter, whether it’s nude models, shy models, high profile models, top-secret products, or whatever.
FUN STUFF PLANNED!
THE MEETING OF THE PHOTOG MINDS…
We will, as a group, have an optional, but highly recommended, meeting once every month to discuss equipment, things to do better, training on equipment, etc. After the meeting we will explore some new technique, trick or equipment together. Think drip photography etc. This might tie into the below.
WEDNESDAY NITE LIVE…
For those that want to participate, we will put on a live YouTube broadcast every Wednesday night where we cover things photography. We would call it “LIVE, from the Utopia Imagery Studios” and we would talk about photography news, show photography tips and tricks, and do things that don’t require top-end equipment but more what the average photog can afford or make. Ultimately, we would hope to make money off sponsorships, affiliate links, and advertising. This would reduce all of our costs.
WRAPPING IT UP:
I hope this is of interest, as we want this to be a great fun place to shoot and create. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call me.
Parham
859 312-1710