The Works Studio

Our new Blog on our own server

2011-03-08T03:03:00.000-08:00

Our new Blog on our own server

2011-03-08T03:01:00.001-08:00

http://martynrayner.co.uk/Blog/

New Years Resolutions

2010-12-26T03:11:00.000-08:00

Probably a little early for new year's resolutions, but I think I'll be to busy after new year to write them down. so here they are to take effect from 1st Jan 2011. okay I'll start with the ones I know I'll probably break before 2nd Jan.

Start the sensible diet, not drink as much, not get arsy with Penny as much, and generally be a nice person; and the ones I do intend to keep at least til next year, stop lending stuff to people, stop giving stuff away, be a lot more targeted in how I run the studio, I also want to practice my make up a lot more, I'm already a qualified MUA but need to do a bit more practice, I also think I'm going to learn a bit about hair styling, whilst I don't think i'll ever be a full-on hair dresser I want to be able to do a bit of styling for the models so I can offer make-up and hair styling in the studio. We will still be getting in professional MUA and stylists for our commercial work, but will now be able to offer this to our amateur photographers. The studio has a professional Iwata/Temptu airbrush make-up system which will produce some fantastic results, so a lot of my time is going to be devoted to becoming really good at that: watch this blog to see how I'm are getting on! We are also going to try and break the mould a bit as a hire studio and offer fashion photography alongside our glamour and art nude days. many of our photographers have said they don't want to shoot glamour as it's simple not what they want to do. What they have asked is if we can find some fashion model and run days with them, so that's exactly what we are going to do. we will still be having our glamour and art model, so don't worry.

Towards the end of last year we were in talks with Kerri Parker about running her academy days for Cambridgeshire at our studio, and are delighted that we will be running our first KPA day on the 30th Jan 2011, and hope to have Kerri along (weather permitting) .

We had the last meeting of the St Ives Fashion and Beauty photography club early in December when we decided to change the name (the old one was a bit of a mouthful) to Face Works, the club was set up as a photographic club but with a much more specific aim than most clubs, Face Works is devoted to "people photography" and is not just open to photographers we also welcome models, make-up artists and stylists along to our meetings, which are normally held at the studio on the first Wednesday of the month, we have a small charge of £4 per meeting. which we hope everyone feels is great value for money as most other clubs with the same charge are held in village halls and scout huts, and not large professional photographic studios. Finally for this blog entry I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I would like to wish you all a prosperous New Year

2010-12-21T05:11:00.001-08:00

Unfortunatly due to the cost of living rise and the increse in fuel cost, we have had to increase our studio rental charges in line with all the other studios in the area, from 1st Jan 2011 our prices will be £30 per/hour for bookings up to 3 hours, bookings between 4 and 7 hours wil be £25 per/hous and bookings of 8+ hours £20, any bookings already made for 2011 will be at the old rate, any bookings made before 31st Dec for 2011 wil be charged at he old rate, so if you are planing a shoot early in the new year book and pay before 31st and get the old rate. we have managed to hold our prices for two years, however our studio is the largest in the area and the cost of running such a large space is fairly high.

2010-12-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

I have been neglecting the blog for far too long, anyway I'm here now, the studio is looking forward to 2011 but we still have a few more weeks left of this year and we are planning some exciting events, last night saw the last meeting of the year for "Face Works" the studio's photographic club, and we hope to have a blog especially for the club soon, we are planning a three day photo bonanza over Christmas. For all the models and photographers fed up with the rubbish telly we have events on the 28th 29th and 30th of December, 28th will be a chance for people to try out the cameras they had for Christmas in the studio, on the 29th we are having a group shoot, so if you are a model or a photographer get in touch and book your slot, models can come for free and photographers there is a charge of £50 for the whole day, and if you are still bored we are having a Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom3 workshop. we are doing this at a special festive rate of £50 it's normally £85.

Photoshop Backgrounds

2010-11-16T02:31:00.000-08:00

Susie

2010-11-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

After today I need a pint, you should have seen the traffic over Iceland

2010-11-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Why didn't you knock first?

2010-11-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

2010-10-26T06:44:00.000-07:00

This Friday we have Sexy Susie and Santa at the studio, so if you are after some great images for Christmas cards please get in touch we are charging £50 an hour for Susie inc. studio rental, and if you want some pics with Santa a donation to East Anglian Childrens Hospice would be much appreciated.

The Works Studio

1a East Street,

St Ives

Cambridge

PE27 5PB

Why is The Works really THE WORKS!

2010-10-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

I'm often asked what The Works Studio has that all the others don't? Many other studios look much nicer than ours they have fancy laminate flooring and nicely decorated changing rooms, and all the latest Apple Mac editing computers, well the simple answer is ME! okay this might sound incredible arrogant, but fortunately it's true, I have been a full time professional studio photographer for well over ten years, and a semi professional for nearly thirty years. I have served my time in professional studio shooting on most film formats from 35mm to 10x8 plate cameras. I'm a Associate of the Royal Photographic Society I'm not some guy who has decided they would like to do a bit of photography and got a digital camera and opened a studio. I actually understand light, I actually learnt the art of lighting both at Cambridge School of Art under the world famous photographer Hag, and have assisted such photographers as Tony Middleton. I'm know as the professor of lighting by many of our clients and have taught most of the local photographers their lighting skills, but it's not all about knowledge it's about how you can teach it, I'm a qualified teacher and have taught at HND and Degree and supervised at Phd level at Cambridge. Having said that whilst The Works might not have fancy laminate flooring, it certainly has the best lighting around, from it's world beating Elinchrom 1.9m octabank to it's Bowens Ringflash pro. but more importantly it also has someone who knows how to use it. and if you don't like flash we have a complete set of 5 Redheads and a 1Kw Photo-beard broad light the real ones not the crappy imports from China. however the most important thing is our studio is of proper proportions, it's not a room with a low ceiling painted white where it's impossible to produce anything except high key images, our studio has a ceiling over 20 foot high and is dark grey so low key lighting is easy, you can always tell the quality of a hire studio by the calibre of it's customers, and we are very proud to boast some pretty illustrious photographers using us, and have been used by Practical Photography magazine for their 16 page article on nude photography, and have photographers travel from all over Europe to use out space, sorry we don't cater for the so called "guys with cameras". if you want to perv at naked model and take a few snaps you probably won't feel very comfortable at The Works, however if you are a creative photographer you will love our studio.

Any business is based on it's service and it's staff, and The Works is no exception. we know we have the best staff around. in fact we really are THE WORKS!

Come and Shoot a Model!

2010-10-19T01:22:00.000-07:00

We are getting quite excited at the studio as we have the gorgeous Susie Hutson here on Friday 22nd October if you would like to book a shoot with her please email me Mr@MartynRayner.co.uk we are charging £50 per hour which includes studio hire and model's fee. what a great way to start the weekend off!

Our Girl Friday

2010-10-18T03:25:00.001-07:00

PHOTOGRAPHERS - Winter is pretty much with us, and it's getting cold and horrible outside, What better way to cheer yourselves up than to have a shoot with one of our fantastic models You probably have some holiday left and need to take it before the end of the year, so why not make a long weekend of it; take Friday off work come to the studio for a shoot, then spend the rest of the weekend nice and warm at home editing your pictures. we have the sexy Susie Hutson in the studio most Fridays, prices are £50 an hour including model and studio, we have two studios one is a traditional commercial fashion studio with infinity cove and paper back grounds, and some of the best lighting equipment around. The second studio is devoted to sets, currently we have a traditional pub bar set, a Victorian living room, currently decorated for Christmas, and a office set.

2010-10-04T16:52:00.001-07:00

Bar nearly finished, we need to do a bit more and get a few more props but it's now ready to use, here is an image from my first shoot.

Been neglecting this blog for a while

2010-09-19T02:09:00.001-07:00

Sorry everyone I have been neglecting the blog for too long. We have been really busy at the studio creating a whole new 510sq/ft studio area, with room sets, so the studio now has two separate studio rooms, the existing main studio which is 35ft x 30ft with a 20ft ceiling and 16ft wide infinity cove, paper backgrounds and brick walls. is ideal for artistic and product shots. The new set studio, which will have a Pub Bar, Office, and Victorian living room set, and two more sets, is nearly finished, and is ideal for glamour photography. we also have a wet area under construction in the main studio which will be available for shooting subjects in running water, or creating the mirror like floor. we have managed to keep the studio rental to the same level since we opened two years ago, main studio is £25 per hour £80 for half a day (4hrs) and £140 for the day(8hrs) since we have built the new studio area we will have to do our bookings in a slightly different way, so photographers will need to let us know what studio they require and for how long so we can allocate the space. if anyone is interested in renting the studio please call me on 01480 301482 or email the studio Martyn@The-Works-Studio.co.uk

2010-08-22T05:44:00.000-07:00

We are now nearly at the end of August, the summer has been fairly quiet at the studio, but now the summer holidays are nearly over we are planning the autumn and winter program. we have lots of great models lined up, for model's days, and some great courses, on Photoshop, wedding photography and studio lighting, not to mention a few parties. anyone one interested in what we are doing please get in touch.

2010-08-16T02:52:00.001-07:00

We have our two-part "Become a Wedding Photographer" course starting in September the first part "On The Day" which covers all aspects of wedding photography from getting the work to taking the images, and includes a practical shoot with a bride and groom; is on Sunday 5th Sept, with the second part "On The Computer" which deals with all the post wedding processing on the computer and album building, is on Sunday 19th Sept, both days start at 10 o'clock and finish around 6 o'clock, the cost of each day is £225 or you can book both days for £400. price includes a buffet lunch and tea and coffee during the day.

Our other courses are

Sunday 12th Sept Studio lighting for Fashion and Glamour Photography £85 inc lunch.

and our five week photoshop evening class starts on Monday 6th Sept 7:30 til 9:30 £85 for all five weeks.

If you require more info please call the studio on 01480 301482 or email Martyn@The-Works-Studio.co.uk

2010-08-02T03:14:00.000-07:00

We have added a new date the the program

Sun 26-Sep Working with Film photography & procession 09:30 - 18:00 £95

The program now looks like this:

Events, Workshops and Courses for Autumn 2010

Sunday Workshops inc Buffet Lunch
Sun 08-Aug Intermediate Photoshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 22-Aug Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 12-Sep Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 26-Sep Working with Film shooting & procession 09:30 - 18:00 £95+++
Sun 03-Oct Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 24-Oct Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 14-Nov Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 05-Dec Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85

+++ this price does not include the cost of film and paper but does include the cost of chemicals

Five Week Evening Courses Starting on:
Mon 06-Sep Intermediate Photoshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Mon 18-Oct Advanced Photoshop - for people photography 09:30 - 18:00 £85

Other Events
Sat 11-Dec Christmas Party - Bring a Bottle 20:00 - Late Invite Only

2010-07-30T03:07:00.001-07:00

We have now finalised the program for the Cambridge School of Photography

Events, Workshops and Courses for Autumn 2010

Sunday Workshops inc Buffet Lunch
Sun 08-Aug Intermediate Photoshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 22-Aug Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 12-Sep Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 03-Oct Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 24-Oct Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 14-Nov Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Sun 05-Dec Studio Lighting Workshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85

Five Week Evening Courses Starting on:
Mon 06-Sep Intermediate Photoshop 09:30 - 18:00 £85
Mon 18-Oct Advanced Photoshop - for people photography 09:30 - 18:00 £85

Other Events
Sat 11-Dec Christmas Party - Bring a Bottle 20:00 - Late Invite Only

2010-07-28T03:15:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy week. trying to get up to date with stuff before the start of the new autumn program.

We are planning loads of events and workshops, and hope to have a model's day at least once a week with a different model, prices will vary depending on the model but will typically be £50 all inclusive per hour for a 1-2-1 session in the studio; whilst most of these will be at the weekend, we will have some week day ones as well. Our Monday evening classes will start in September with the first one being Intermediate Photoshop the classes run over five weeks from 7:30 until 9:30 and cost £85, We also have a couple of workshops planned for photographers wanting a bit of help with wedding photography, there will be two, one day workshop "on the day" when we will cover photography during the wedding day, and "on the computer" which will cover all the post wedding processing and digital work flow, the workshops can be done separately or as a pair. Cost is £225 each or both for £400, they will be on a Sunday from 9:30 until 6:00 and include a buffet lunch, we will announce a date when we have planned the program. The lighting workshops will carry on. The workshops are a great way of learning studio lighting, we normally have a model so photographers should not only learn about lighting they should also get some great shots to put in their portfolios. we also run 1-2-1 lighting workshops if you are interested in courses at the studio please phone Penny or Martyn on 01490 301482 or email ContactUs@The-Works-Studio.co.uk

Our first blog for the studio

2010-07-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Just started this blog for the studio, nearly August and things are picking up a bit after a quiet couple of months. We have loads of stuff planned for the rest of the year, including a load of different photographic courses and workshops. We are also looking for model wanting to do studio days, and photographers and models interested in syndicating their images. if you are interested please give me a call

The Works Studio is one of East Anglia’s largest hire studios, a fully self contained photographic facility with much more to offer than just a large white studio area, we have a client meeting rooms and a large multi-purpose room, that can also double up as two more studio areas. The studio is available for hire to professional and amateur users alike, whether you are a model, photographer, designer or make-up artist The Works is the perfect place to work. Hire charges start at £25 per/hour, with discounts for students and longer bookings.

The Studio area measures 30foot x 36foot with a ceiling height of 20 foot, (This is no converted spare room or garden shed!) with a 16foot wide x 10foot high infinity cove providing nearly three times more space than the average colorama backdrop studio.
Our studio is quite different from many studios that have been painted plain white. All white studios are great for some types of photography such as hi-key work, but it is virtually impossible to shoot lo-key in one. Whilst hi and lo key lighting can easily be achieved in our studio. The same cannot be said for creating lo-key, lighting with hard shadows in an all white studio. Quite simply, the light gets reflected off all the walls and kills any shadows. At the Works studio we have carefully created the perfect balance of white infinity cove, surrounded with dark walls and ceiling to allow shadows to be created and controlled.

The studio is a converted 1930’s factory and we have left much of the old factory ‘feel’ in the building, we have not replaced the rather distressed old wood flooring with shiny laminate, and the walls have been kept in their original industrial condition, when you first come in to the studio you may feel the building a slightly dilapidated compared to the shiny new studios build in modern factory units, but as soon as you start to be creative the building comes to life. We are a professional studio and do not have ‘room sets’, if you want to shoot in a room set why not just use a real room! If you are looking for an amateur glamour studio The Works is probably not for you, however if you are a creative photographer looking for total control of your lighting, then we feel we are the best studio around, we don’t just have big soft boxes, we also have specialist lighting such as 70cm beauty dishes with honey combs, and Quadmatic spotlights that can be fitted with gobos to create silhouettes and shadows, we have the latest Bowens ring flash pro. Or if you prefer we have a set of five 800w Photo Beard Redhead tungsten lights, and a RRB 1Kw broad light, ideal for recreating the 1950’s feel, from before the days of studio flash. If we were to liken our studio to anything we would say it’s more like something from the film ‘Blow Up’ than ‘America’s next top model'
We understand many of our customers also want to shoot on colour backgrounds, so if it's a colorama background you require we also have them, our system is fitted to our balcony allowing rolls to be changes safely and easily at waist height, (no going up ladders in this studio) at 8feet high the balcony overlooks the infinity cove so can be used to shoot down on to the cove area. Underneath the balcony is a fully equipped model's changing room with four make-up stations and the latest Iwata airbrush makeup system. The studio is all on one level with no steps and has good accessibility through double doors from our large car park making it easy to unload heavy equipment or props directly in to the studio. We have gone a long way to making all our facilities wheel chair friendly and we welcome disabled visitors.

Just Testing

2010-07-26T08:31:00.001-07:00

Just testing this Blog thing for the studio