My Thoughts on Studio Photography

It has cooled off, the long hot summer may be starting to wane, and it is not soon enough for me.  Clients need business headshots, the agent needs real estate photos, families need memories, and seniors need yearbook portraits.  My small studio is easier to cool when the temps are in the eighties and not past one hundred.  I had a large studio for twenty years with two air conditioners that never turned off during the day.  Making photos of uncomfortable clients is difficult, but my small studio with just one unit provides an excellent environment.  I was exposed to a studio in High School, a local studio had the school contract, and they were charged with teaching me.  Many younger contemporary photographers want nothing to do with studios; they work almost entirely outside or on location; I'm surprised when I see one using a tripod.  My studio provides me with space to store my equipment and a place to make my studio portraits.  I rented my first studio when my first-born son started to get into my photo gear.  I found a cheap spot in the "lower lobby level" or basement of a building in the Riverdale area of Little Rock.  Since our business was by appointment only, we didn't miss the walk-in traffic; it was a safe place for the two employees I had at that time.  We were there from 1985 till 1998 when we moved to west Little Rock.