friscoron
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 p.1 #1 · My Very Long, Very Crazy, Endless Summer | |
I was planning to share this with you next week after my Grand Opening and the studio was finished, but I thought today that some of the local FMers might be interested in coming to my Grand Opening. So I'm telling my story tonight.
If anyone would like to come to my Grand Opening, it's this Sunday, Aug. 12, from 2-5 pm with a champagne toast at 3 pm. It's located at 800 McArdle Drive, Unit G, Crystal Lake, IL. I'm expecting more than 100 people will be there for the champagne toast.
Back in April, my two-year lease on my 750-sq foot studio in downtown Algonquin had expired and I executed a two-year extension and was negotiating a new 5-year lease that would expand the studio to 2000 sq feet and give us storefront window in downtown Algonquin. We were pretty excited about the growth. We signed the lease agreement and handed it over to our landlords.
Four days later, instead of signing the lease, they told us that they decided to go with someone else in the space and that I'd have to move out of the 750-sq ft studio by the end of June. That meant we had to find a new studio space in less than two months. We had executed the extension, hired a lawyer and he confirmed it. In the end, we decided we didn't want to stay if we couldn't expand, and we didn't want to be in a place where we weren't wanted. We made sure we were getting our full security deposit back, and we began searching for a new space.
It was a difficult search. I was in the middle of my busiest year, and we spent every moment we had free scouring the area looking for space. There wasn't much empty space. We originally were looking for around 2000 sq feet but as we expanded our search to industrial warehouses, we realized we could afford to go bigger. We finally settled on a 3,250 sq foot space, which would make us the largest private photography studio anywhere in the Chicago suburbs that we could find. Dimensions are 88 feet in length, 37 feet wide, and 20-foot ceilings.
The new owners were amazing. They lent us space next door while they built out the studio to our specifications, giving us a viewing area to meet with our clients, an office for myself and my wife, and a production room where our assistant would edit, print and cut prints.
That still left a lot of space for shooting. I added a wall so I could a changing area when I had dance and cheer teams in the studio. Obviously, they could change in the bathroom, but this provided a lot of extra space without taking away any shooting space.
I'll explain things as I show you pictures of the progress.
Mid-May. This is a People forum, so I needed to include a shot of people. This is my family. We were all going through changes this summer.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/936/42107479930_37db4327c7_b.jpg
Late May. An exterior shot of my building as the family helps me move in. This was the last time they helped me. (Just kidding.)
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1836/28980027167_6366877813_b.jpg
Early June. This is the first day of the buildout. Here you can see the where the walls will be for our office and production room. I decided not to have ceilings for the viewing room/office/production room. One, it would reduce the cost of the buildout, and more importantly, I like having all that ceiling space.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1800/42107370160_b2fa5e2d73_b.jpg
Here is where you can see our back space when it was completely empty.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1774/43198249214_9ba6f7e762_b.jpg
Mid-June. The walls are up now and you can see the entrance into our space.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/859/43198250274_ea34524098_b.jpg
Our office.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/856/43198250674_c05da4f6b8_b.jpg
Our production room.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1791/43198250934_3038731b3f_b.jpg
Late June. Flooring is going in.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/930/43198249744_d8af37c19d_b.jpg
Early July. Sign goes up. Bob is a former wedding client of mine. I know this is crazy, but he volunteered to build everything out for me for free. In return, I'm helping him learn photography. And a few other things. He's an electrician, a do-it-all guy. I couldn't have done this without him, without spending many thousands of dollars.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1776/43198285704_b7cfc01bbd_b.jpg
Then I had to go on vacation in the Colorado Rockies for almost two weeks. This was by far my busiest summer ever, I was horribly behind, and by the time I came back, my summer help was done as she had to return to college. My full-time assistant wouldn't be starting until the end of August. I was (and am) behind on almost every order, and so far everyone has been unbelievably patient with me. Anyone want a job through the end of August? Please come see me! Today!
Here are some shots from my vacation. This is my bro-in-law Eddie on a jet ski (shot with a 200-500 f/5.6 lens).
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1831/43917602951_3ebfaaa017_b.jpg
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/856/43869109212_cb07c5655a_b.jpg
And my kids on a tube behind our boat. 70-200 lens.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1835/30048373998_37c331ba14_b.jpg
And my favorite:
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/862/43012763225_2f42b14d5e_b.jpg
While I'm gone, an artist and a theatrical set designer has been at work putting together an industrial wall for me, and trying to make my Home Depot brick panels look real. Bob has been working on electrical and getting the reclaimed wood ready to make a backdrop out of that.
August. This is Holly working on the industrial wall. All the pipes are real. When I moved in, it was all white. Just boring. I realized I could turn it all into a background by making it look urban. Holly took my concept and made it real.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1811/43916694651_013966f08e_b.jpg
Tonight, five days before the Grand Opening. Here is the industrial wall, with a bunch of crap around as I have a teen in there cleaning up our mess.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/935/43916846001_18507e000f_b.jpg
Here's what our faux brick wall looks like after the theatrical types did their magic. An original panel is leaning against the brick wall, and a mockup is there as well. I like the finished look.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1792/43916850851_77e37a43c7_b.jpg
Here's the reclaimed wood background. All the reclaimed wood cost around $850.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1795/43916849191_b716bf7e77_b.jpg
I told Bob he had to be my subject for my first portrait with the reclaimed wood. You can see the sawdust on his shirt.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/851/28980038367_9c8545f6e1_b.jpg
To the side of the reclaimed wood backdrop, I'll have two areas for backdrops. I'll have something permanently attached to the wall as well. To the right, you can see the setup for a cyclorama wall to give me an infinity backdrop look for my dance floor. Both dance areas will be 17 feet wide, one white and one black. This is the white side.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/930/43198540354_24cba8d6fe_b.jpg
This is the other side where the black flooring will go. To the side of it will be a 15-foot wide green screen and more backdrops.
Here's a closeup of the cyc walls as it stands today. (It all goes up Wednesday.) You can see my new marley flooring sitting there waiting to be laid out as well. With concrete floors, I had to get a subflooring to make the landings a little softer for my dancers. Along those lines, a cheer team donated two 40-foot rolls of cheer mats to me. (Each roll can cost about $900). I have good friends/clients.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/854/43916847701_079f2c1866_b.jpg
So that's been my summer. It's been a record-breaking year for me, and it's pretty amazing that we made this crazy move with so little planning (thinking we were going to expand our original space). I'm hoping I can get some sleep in November or December, but it doesn't really slow down for me then either. If anyone around Chicago can make the Grand Opening, it'd be fun to meet you.
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