Welcome to our new Photography Studio – Construction is Complete!

Sorry for the long delay in updating our Photography Studio Construction Project thread, but I am happy to report that our studio is finally finished (well as complete as anything can ever be!)

When we moved into our previous studio we had the privilege of getting it complete prior to move in, but with this build project we had to move in and start shooting while we were still involved in the construction, so we have had to balance our construction schedule with our shooting schedule, which fortunately is up significantly on last year.

We have been shooting in our new photography studio for the past 6 months. It is an exquisite studio and it provides us with many benefits over our previous location, but of course owning our own building allows us to modify and tailor it specifically to our needs, and we hope to see some capital appreciation over the years.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios Fort Lauderdale
Danny Steyn Photography Studios Fort Lauderdale

Kim did a tremendous job with landscaping and improving the exterior look of the studio and we have had many people, including the City, compliment us on the new appearance. The existing signage was easily changed out. We will install signage on the front of the building when the time is right.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios Fort Lauderdale
Danny Steyn Photography Studios Fort Lauderdale

The Lobby is where we meet with our clients and hopefully it creates the right first impression. It is light, and roomy and provides a comfortable seating area with a large 60 inch TV which runs our photographic images in a slide show. The display is easily customizable depending on the clientele we are servicing that day.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Front Lobby
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Front Lobby

 

From the LOBBY you enter the GALLERY. We use the GALLERY to showcase our work and to transition from the two shooting studios to the prop room and bathrooms. Currently we just have customer images on the wall while we are busy framing images and hanging lights. Once this area is complete I will update with new images.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Gallery
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Gallery

 

The EDITING OFFICE is where we spend most of their lives and it has four dual monitor work stations, and place for several more. It is served from our Servers and NAS Storage and Backup Servers located on rack server in the Prop Room.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Editing Offices
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Editing Offices

 

The PROP ROOM is always the hardest place to keep organized. The more props, lights, softboxes etc. you have, the harder it is to find space to store them other than having them clutter up your shooting space. And we typically shoot till we are too exhausted to pack things away before heading home at night. Fortunately we learned many lessons at our previous studio and made several organizational changes for our new studio. As you can see there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. We employ a custom designed pulley and rail system to get the heavy and bulky props off the floor and onto the shelving space above. This keeps the floor clean and work bench easily accessible for building more props!!!

Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Prop Room
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Prop Room
Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Prop Room
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Prop Room

 

The KITCHEN and MAKEUP STATION area is smaller than we would have liked but we had to make do with the space we had. You will recognize the kitchen cabinets from our previous studio which we were fortunately able to reuse. This space is very organized, and we now have separate 20A electrical outlets through the mirror at each of the 4 MUA stations, allowing 4 models to be styled simultaneously using heavy amp curling tongs, dryers etc. We also upgraded the electrical circuits in the Prop Room where we do all the ironing and steaming of our client’s wardrobe.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Makeup Stations and Kitchen
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Makeup Stations and Kitchen

 

And finally we come to the twin hearts of our studio – the shooting areas.

The wonderful light that we have in our NATURAL LIGHT STUDIO is a great addition to our studio. This is something that we did not have in the past, and the ability to shape natural light has given us a totally new shooting dimension. We also installed window blinds, roll down backdrops against the far wall as well as a pulley system that provides the ability to easily hang several layers of curtains or props to create depth and interest, which combined with the length of the studio makes it perfect for building our elaborate boudoir photography sets.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Natural Light Studio
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Natural Light Studio
Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Natural Light Studio
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Natural Light Studio

 

Our PRODUCT and PORTRAIT STUDIO was the last phase to be completed as it has been serving as our storage area while we have been shooting and working on the other rooms. It features a full size seamless cyclorama wall as well as motorized back-drop rolls and pull out sliding backdrops for fast background changes. And of course it has a drive through roller shutter door that allows vehicles into the studio, either for shooting or for offloading location equipment.

Danny Steyn Photography Studios - Product and Portrait Studio
Danny Steyn Photography Studios – Product and Portrait Studio

Hope this thread gives you ideas on what do in your own shooting spaces.

New Photo Studio – electrical, plumbing, and interior painting

The electrician has rerouted all the conduit and is hanging the lights. The Plumber has installed the sinks and toilets in the bathrooms and the carpenter is installing the kitchen cabinets.

Baseboards painted and drying
Baseboards painted and drying
Photo Studio Gallery showing marble floor, black 8ft doors with frosted glass, and black baseboards.
Photo Studio Gallery showing marble floor, black 8ft doors with frosted glass, and black baseboards.
Updated small bathroom (non ADA) - new tiles and fixtures
Updated small bathroom (non ADA) – new tiles and fixtures
Photo Studio front Lobby showing tiles, black 8ft doors with frosted glass, and black baseboards. Lighting and drop ceiling being hung.
Photo Studio front Lobby showing tiles, black 8ft doors with frosted glass, and black baseboards. Lighting and drop ceiling being hung.
Editing room - new photography studio - black baseboards and glass brick wall
Editing room – new photography studio – black baseboards and glass brick wall
Kitchen cabinets being installed, room for the sink.
Kitchen cabinets being installed, room for the sink.
Kitchen cabinets being installed, room for the sink and the two ADA drinking fountains
Kitchen cabinets being installed, room for the sink and the two ADA drinking fountains (WTF?)

With regard to the kitchen, in case you are wondering why we have TWO DRINKING FOUNTAINS, the new ADA rules specify that you have to have two drinking fountains with 6″ of difference in height. R U KIDDING ME!!!! When is this madness ever going to end

The drywall crew are prepping some of the areas that we have marked, and then we should start with the final interior painting sometime next week.

The daylight studio has a coat of bonding epoxy down to increase the adherence of the filler layer and epoxy paints that will be used to paint the studio floor.

Still have to find some light weight room darkening blinds for the natural light studio as it will be used for both natural and studio light duties

Painting the new Photography Studio exterior

New photography studio - prior to purchase
South Entrance and parking – New photography studio – prior to purchase

Prior to selling the studio the previous owner had a done a great job of painting the studio, but s you can see in the image above, the  green colors they had chosen did not fit our color palette, and more importantly they blended in too much into the background.

With over 50,000 cars a day passing by we wanted a color scheme that would attract attention, be in line with our corporate color palette, and not be too un-Florida!

So we chose the color palette similar to our current web design – a darker coffee color at the called black raisin, a medium taupe waistline below and a light taupe for the majority of the walls. The back-lit store front signs that are being designed are in white and with the dark background they will easily be visible in both daytime and nighttime.

Painting the new Danny Steyn Photography Studio
Painting the new Danny Steyn Photography Studio
Painting the new Danny Steyn Photography Studio
Painting the new Danny Steyn Photography Studio
South Entrance with the new paint colors - new Danny Steyn Photography Studio
South Entrance with the new paint colors – new Danny Steyn Photography Studio

While we like the dark black raisin as the top color for the building, we inverted the colors for the wall as we did not want to white bird droppings to show up on the boundary wall where they often congregate, so here the dark raisin color is used as the waistline to separate the two shades of taupe

Boundary wall - new Danny Steyn Photography Studio
Boundary wall – new Danny Steyn Photography Studio

Build Out Phase (Part 3) – New Photography Studio design project from start to finish

Drywall is complete

We are 6 weeks into the project, and allowing for the break between Christmas and New Year, things are going pretty smoothly. The GC is keeping the project moving along, but to date we have drifted about 2 weeks behind our original schedule. Not a train smash but still a bit disappointing.

All the interior drywalls are all complete. Both Studios as well as the Prop Room and the Gallery will have open ceilings, and these areas all received their dose of matte black paint. There will be some touch up required with the new AC vents that are still being installed.

Photography studio Editing Office dry-wall complete
Photography studio Editing Office dry-wall complete
Photography studio Prop Room dry-wall complete
Photography studio Prop Room dry-wall complete
Photography studio Lobby dry-wall complete.
Photography studio Lobby dry-wall complete.

Floor tiling has commenced

The floor guys have started laying tile in the Lobby, Office and Gallery areas. We had to make a small design change in the Lobby due to the layout of the doors. Unfortunately this means more of one tile and less of another so the lobby will only be completed on Saturday. We had so many compliments on the lobby of our old studio that we have stayed with the same floor design; a dark marble border around a light marble fill. Doors will be black with frosted glass panels.

New Photography Studio construction - Entrance Lobby tiling underway
New Photography Studio construction – Entrance Lobby tiling underway
New Photography Studio construction - Entrance Lobby tiling underway
New Photography Studio construction – Entrance Lobby tiling underway
New Photography Studio construction - Editing Office tiling underway
New Photography Studio construction – Editing Office tiling underway

We chose a busier and slightly darker tile for the Editing Room as the light cream tiles in our previous studio editing room showed the dirt too easily.

New Photography Studio construction - Studio walls and window frames being painted
New Photography Studio construction – Studio walls and window frames being painted

Interior oors are being custom made on site

Due to long lead times we were unable to purchase finished doors so we are having the GC custom make the doors on site. The finish carpenter is doing a great job with the 8ft tall wood doors that we purchased. He has cut out the recesses and is painstakingly installing the frosted glass panels

New Photography Studio construction - 8ft tall doors being custom made on site
New Photography Studio construction – 8ft tall doors being custom made on site
New Photography Studio construction - 8ft tall doors being custom made on site
New Photography Studio construction – 8ft tall doors being custom made on site

 

Build Out Phase (Part 2) – New Photography Studio design project from start to finish

With the structural inspections complete the drywall crew continued their task and now the tape and mud is being applied. Open ceilings in the two studios, gallery and prop room mean 12ft tall walls have to be dry-walled and smoothed. Looking forward to seeing the crew’s tall stilts on the high walls! There will be a drop ceiling in the lobby, editing office, bathrooms and kitchen/makeup areas.

Danny Steyn Photography Studio - Drywall framing, taping and mudding
Danny Steyn Photography Studio – Drywall framing, taping and mudding
Danny Steyn Photography Studio - Drywall framing, taping and mudding - editing office
Danny Steyn Photography Studio – Drywall framing, taping and mudding – editing office

 

Danny Steyn Photography Studio - Drywall framing, taping and mudding - Main Lobby
Danny Steyn Photography Studio – Drywall framing, taping and mudding – Main Lobby

We decided to remove some of the overgrown vegetation to reveal the front of the building so that the signage will be visible to the 50,000+ vehicles a day that pass the studio. We are playing with signage design, paint colors as well as exterior landscaping. Kind of cool to see the exterior moving along as well.

Danny Steyn Photography Studio - Exterior - North Entrance
Danny Steyn Photography Studio – Exterior – North Entrance
Danny Steyn Photography Studio - Exterior - North Entrance
Danny Steyn Photography Studio – Exterior – North Entrance
Danny Steyn Photography Studio - Exterior - North Entrance
Danny Steyn Photography Studio – Exterior – North Entrance – And vehicle entrance to main studio

 

 

 

The Build Out Phase (Part 1) – New Photography Studio design project from start to finish

THE UNEXPECTED

No construction project goes as planned, and conventional wisdom says it will cost you double what you originally budgeted, but we are fighting like crazy to ensure that that will not happen here. Nevertheless, we have discovered that a lot of work was done to the building over the past 20 years will not meet the current Florida building code and the minute you pull a construction permit, all work, past and present, has to meet the current code. So it looks as though we will have to

  • Completely upgrade the AC system with 4 new units supplying 12 Tons. It’s pretty obvious that the 20 year old A/C system will not be able handle the demand of the new studio design. The plan is to run the A/C every day to cool the editing office, lobby, gallery and bathroom, but only run the A/C in the studios during shoots. So the ability to rapidly drop the temperature in the two large studios is essential. Without dropped ceilings, and a relatively low R19 roofing system, excess capacity will be important to get the temps down fast enough in the summer months.
  • Repair a leak in the roof and wall that caused quite considerable damage to the  drywall in the main studio area
  • Re-look at the wiring of the building. Several electrical penetrations through both the exterior walls and the interior fire walls do not meet current building code and need to be addressed

It’s also time to decide on tile treatments for the lobby and gallery areas. Fortunately Kim’s excellent taste for interior decoration will make my life so much easier.

THE FRUSTRATION

Dealing with the city building department for building permits and inspections can be a trying process. Sometimes it goes well, other times it can be a nightmare. I guess this time around ours was smack in the middle. All our drawings and permits were passed without revision, however our plans got stuck (and lost) within the building department for almost 2 weeks, delaying all progress. And delays cost money.

THE START OF THE BUILD OUT PHASE

Now that we have the permits the build-out has started. Drywall framing is going up, plumbing for the new ADA bathroom and kitchen, duct work for the new AC units and more.

Despite having tried to incorporate as much pre-planning into the design of the new studio as possible, there are several changes that we have implemented through the project and sometimes construction delays give you time to reflect and rethink your strategy!

Damaged drywall due to leaking window seals that needs to be replaced in the Daylight Studio
Damaged drywall due to leaking window seals that needs to be replaced in the Daylight Studio
After rmoving a storage shelf we discovered this drywall rot in the Main Studio. Need to establish what is causing this.
After removing a storage shelf we discovered this drywall rot in the Main Studio. Need to establish what is causing this.
The newly discovered rot in the Main Studio drywall, still need to resolve the source of this leak
The newly discovered rot in the Main Studio drywall, still need to resolve the source of this leak
The empty main Portrait Studio with cyc wall and newly discovered leak and drywall rot!
The empty main Portrait Studio with cyc wall and newly discovered leak and drywall rot!
Drywall framing starts
Drywall framing starts
Looking from the Main Portrait studio, through the Gallery into the Prop room. Lobby to the left, new ADA bathroom to the right
Looking from the Main Portrait studio, through the Gallery into the Prop room. Lobby to the left, new ADA bathroom to the right
Looking from the Editing Room, through the Prop Room into the Natural Light Studio
Looking from the Editing Room, through the Prop Room into the Natural Light Studio
Furring strips for drywall going up in the Prop Room, looking into the Natural Light Studio
Furring strips for drywall going up in the Prop Room, looking into the Natural Light Studio
Drywall going up in the Editing Room, window and door to Lobby, door to Prop Room and Server station
Drywall going up in the Editing Room, window and door to Lobby, door to Prop Room and Server station
Plywood bracing for wall cabinets in the Prop Room. Dedicated AC ducting for server in Server Enclave
Plywood bracing for wall cabinets in the Prop Room. Dedicated AC ducting for server in Server Enclave
Plywood bracing for makeup counter in the Makeup Room. One full width mirror with lighting for 3 stations and outlets for hairdryers, curling tongs etc.
Plywood bracing for makeup counter in the Makeup Room. One full width mirror with lighting for 3 stations and outlets for hairdryers, curling tongs etc.
Plywood bracing for large HD 4K TV Monitor in the Lobby.
Plywood bracing for large HD 4K TV Monitor in the Lobby.