Just got done a really fun shoot with Béke Beau and Dar Clinton where we had beautiful, late afternoon sunshine streaming through the studio windows … for about 6 straight hours! “Joe, surely you jest! Even we folks in Southern California never get that kind of sun!” Well, we sure don’t, either. As a matter of fact, there is still a foot of snow on the ground and no sun to be had at any time today. However, with the help of a couple Speedotron power packs and some ingenuity …

I already have windows in my studio but the sun rarely comes in and certainly not today. So I went outside with my Speedo, er, Speedotron 2403 power pack and a 2400 ws head and blasted it at full power toward the studio windows. I jacked the pack and the ends of the power cords up off the snow with a crate and packed snow around the light stand for stability.

Here is a view looking toward the windows. I moved the light source several times before I got the effect I was looking for.

Meanwhile, back inside I shot tests to work out my camera position and where the light fell to tune in everything.

My modeling light was useless with so much ambient light so I placed Stephanie into the scene to further fine tune the angle of the light. This shot revealed shadows falling right across her face so it was back into the snow to move the strobe.

Success! Now I have plenty of time to scrutinize while the models are getting hair and make-up.

Turns out that the shadow side was getting a little lost so I added another strobe to the right of the set with a Photoflex half-dome and a grid attachment to control spill.

I had the main light set to full power while the kicker with a grid was set as low as it would go since it was so close. This allowed me to shoot at 1/125 sec at f5.6-1/3. I warmed things up in-camera by manually setting the white balance to 7600K.

The studio is officially here! It’s been a long time in the making but the cool, new spot id complete and we had a grand opening to to it off to the industry Thursday night.

Christopher E Carlson of Christofer Janneson did an incredible job of styling the event. I never knew the place could look so cool!

William Beck from Taste! did a first class job with the food. The peppercorn crusted, sushi-grade tuna was to die for!

The studio looked so swank I was afraid to let anyone disturb it!

How often do you have a professional chef in your kitchen?

I can’t thank Béke Beau enough for introducing me to her husband, Christopher. His event styling work is second to none.

Lots of industry movers and shakers were there such as Melody Lapp from Sofitel.

Jennifer and Jillian from Hotel DuPont also made it to the soiree.

Mini Margherita pizzas! Yum!

I was especially happy to see my good friend (and incredible artist) Lori Levin from Soulful Studios with her fiance, Joel.

Bethany Malloy from Gloss Style played a huge roll in the success of the Philly Photog Shootout.

Sarah never, ever let my wine glass run dry. I wanted to keep her here!

All in all, it was a blast! I want to thank everyone who made it for helping me open the new space with a bang! More photos at Facebook.

No, I’m not moving into a new house. But I am schlepping the new furniture from the garage into the studio. Here is a sneak peek.

There are still lots of things in boxes yet to be moved in. I hope I have enough room for all of this stuff!

I’m leaving my actual work area uncluttered … for now.

One lone bar stool soon be met by its brethren! I expect many fellow photographers to join me in bending an elbow here when it’s all together.

I left a substantial shooting area.

Back to work!

Or at least I keep telling myself that. At least I’m starting to see changes day-to-day. Such as the powder/dressing room which just got its sink.

My new workstation just came in and is just sitting in the shooting area until its new home is completed.

The bar is pretty cool and is almost done. It’s tough to see here but the top is made of brushed zinc.

Another view from the entrance.

I’m itching to have a photographers’ party, er, meeting as soon as it’s done.

The guys from Hi-Fi House came out and installed the Sony 46″ Hi-Def and a whole slew of other electronic gear on which I now have to train myself.

What have I done! I’m never gonna be able to learn all this stuff!

Ok, so the first deadline has been blown but it now looks as though we’ll be wrapped up in two weeks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Things are really starting to move along this week. I’m sad to say the new studio won’t be ready for the Super Monday seminar but I’m sure to be hosting my grand opening in the not-too-distant future.

This is the corner which will host the wine and espresso bar.

This is the view from the shooting area.

The HVAC system is pretty slick. Two cassette-type units are housed inside the drop ceiling out of sight.

Nick hangs the door to the dressing/powder room. No, it really doesn’t look quite this red in real life.

My patio and garage are staging areas for all the stuff that’s going to be installed in the next week or two. The garage is completely full!

I’ll post more as stuff happens. The tile guy is coming in tomorrow to start the heated dressing room floor and then the vanity and fixtures will go in. Should look pretty cool.

The rebuilding of the studio is in full swing. The new stairs are in and work has begun on the new powder room/dressing room. What was my old darkroom has been gutted. (

It was sad to see everything go but sadder still to see all my equipment just collect dust. But that will all be behind me when the conversion is complete. It will feature designer everything as well as a heated floor so visiting supermodels won’t have to endure cold toes!  )

The old stairs are gone and the new stairs (sans railings) are in. The room looks so big. I’m sorry I didn’t do this a long time ago. Here is the jigsaw puzzle of a stairway before assembly.

Chris Wirth does amazing work. Sadly, he doesn’t have a website but examples of his handiwork are all over the city. If you’re ever at 13th & Sansom, check out the bar at Vintage.

Measuring for the rails which should be done later this week. I should offer my own clients such expediency!

The place looks so much bigger already.

More photo at Flickr.

A while back I had announced that the studio makeover project had begun. Although I had actually started cutting checks at that time, the first real contractor work began just today with the demolition of the old stairs in preparation for the new ones which are being built as we speak.

The new stairs will be all-steel and of an open, minimalist design. Having them open instead of boxed in as the old ones were should really make the space look much bigger. Here is another view looking toward what will be the espresso and wine bar (no kidding!).

Here are the ‘before’ photos.

Yuck! Here is a rough floorplan and some colors to give an idea of what the palette will look like.

Stay tuned!