Photo Studio - Work in Progress

Roy (SixthShooter) made a suggestion to me about making a dio of a Photographic Studio, and that just rang bells with me. Being a photographer, as well, just seemed the right thing to do. So, here's a few images, of the work in progress.



So, first off, I got some table tops from Ikea, and put some casters on the bottom of them. This is my dio base. I can use one, or two joined together (I still need to decide on how to clip them together - something to work out in the future, right now, I only need the one). Funny enough, when they arrived one of them arrived scratched, like someone had put a knife across it. It was probably the top of the package to arrive, and when they cut the box open it sliced into the table top. But, they still shipped it out. I complained, and they've since sent a new replacement one. I was and they're letting me keep the scratched one (that's the underneath one). The casters have brakes on them, so they won't move...

For the walls, I ended up getting insulation foam... This was RealSarahDactyl's suggestion. I went with the big ones, 1 metre x 60cm x 2 cm. Nice and thick. I used to use foam board but that warps too easily. Especially if you make brick effects with scoring.

Next. I painted the walls after cutting one piece to make the side walls - Unforuntately I don't have a picture of this.

But I took one side, and decided I wanted a pretty big window, and with the off cuts, made a wall with a 40cm x 40cm window.



One side I painted white, as it seems most Photo Studios are painted with white walls. You can see my rather large window opening.

Next, it was time to make some brickwork on the other side. The reason for this, it allows me to take photos from the outside, looking in.



Here's where all the bricks have been scored. I then balled up a bit of aluminium foil, and rolled it all over the bricks for texture. Next was a wash of gray paint for the mortar.



Now, this is where the fun starts... I individually dry painted each brick, one by one.



This was done with Scarlet Red...



Looking very red... So to tone it down, I dry brushed some Burnt Umber brown onto the red... Just to try to give a more realistic effect. [Note, this actually wasn't Burnt Umber, it was Cinnamon Red that was used to tone it down]



As this is supposed to be an office area in a nice fairly new area, I didn't want to make the bricks look too beaten up. To be really honest, I was happy with the effect I'd managed to get. In the UK, bricks are different colours depending on region. The red brick is normally further north of the country. I know I live in London, and we have more yellow bricks. I just wanted the red...

While I was working on that, I saw a camera tripod in 1/6 scale on fleabay... So needed to get that, and check it out. So here's Kat (remember her?) as the photographer, and Nat (yes, her sister) as the model.



That's one huge tripod.... Oh, wait...



Hmm. That's better. The legs can adjust, and the center column can raise and lower, as well as turn upside down. Just like my real 1:1 tripod. Excellent... I was one happy camper.

Just for fun, another angle...



To be continued....

Part 2...

I managed to find some little motors, which were for R/C helicopters. I wired them up to a battery, and they worked.. Didn't seem very powerful, but I wanted them as part of the mechanism for a backdrop structure. More on this in a moment, but here's the motor, so you can see how tiny they are:



While I was looking into the motors, I was also running some tests with magnets, and different glues with the foam. I had a couple of offcuts, and some powerful earth magnets.



Not very pretty, but the idea was to embed the magnets into the foam (making sure I got the polarity correct) and see if the magnets would hold the pieces together. That way my traditional brackets wouldn't be needed. I make all my dioramas temporary, and collapsible. I don't have the space for permanent dioramas. First I tried some epoxy. Left it for 24 hours, and then tested. Normally the package says it will be fully cured in 24 hours. Well, it wasn't. Probably something to do with the foam or even something to do with the temperature overnight in my attic, where I do my hobbies. But the magnets came back out. So fail.

Next up I tried some very expensive Form-Cure, that RealSarahDactyl swore by. Expensive in the UK... £8 for 1 fl oz. I tried that, and after 24 hours, put the two pieces together, and it looked promising. I left them together for a couple of hours, and nope... The magnets had come out of their places. But I noticed, like with the epoxy, the glue was still a bit wet. So, another test, with the same glue, and I left it for 3 days. This time it was working. In the meantime, I was also working on the window frame.


Windowsill in place, and more wood for the frame. I've left that part unpainted at the moment, because I wanted to create a blind that can be inset into it. So made a frame, the original wood I used was too flimsy, so used the same wood as the main frame.

The used thin bamboo for the slats.



It was slow going, as I was using my favourite glue, Mod-Podge. Normally it cures in about 10 minutes, but I was leaving it about an hour, before continuing, as it needed to be there pretty solid... This was going to take a very long time. Then Dave (SCU_HQ), suggested hot glue... I always forget about hot glue... About 30 minutes later.



We have a blind. It isn't exactly functional of course, but it is only held in place with tension, so it can be reversed if I want the angle to be slightly different. You can't really see the angle here, but I was trying to stick to a 45 degree angle of the slats. But being reversible gives a further option. I may make another blind with the slats pulled up, and give the huge clear opening. I do need to add string for the blind control, but they are details to add nearer the end of the build.

Next task is the backdrop structure and mechanism. From experience of studios, some use a standalone stand for the backdrop, this is useful as it can be moved and placed anywhere, but can take up a lot of floor space. I wanted something that would look as though it was permanently installed. But I didn't want in permanently installed, because of being able to store things. So...

I had some photographic backdrop fabric that was double sided. I cut it to the size I wanted, and then separated the two sides of the fabric. I then hemmed the fabric with fabric glue, and stuck them to dowel rods.



I also pushed the little motors into the centre of the dowels.

Here's the backdrop structure:



These were glued with my favorite glue... Also forgetting about hot glue again.

I then painted it Gunmetal Grey and attached the rods once it was all dry.



I think you can see how it is going to work...



I got some little brackets that attached to the top of the wall, and one of the supports of the main structure. I was pretty happy with that. Next a little test to see how it looks with a backdrop down..



I was really happy. Plus my Lume Cubes on some stands will convincingly work for studio lights, especially as they actually produce a lot of light too. Controlled via a phone app, or manually. Also, at this stage putting some of the items I already had in place, it is starting to take shape...

Now for the bad news... The glue I used just wasn't strong enough for that backdrop structure, and by the time I came back from dinner, it had collapsed. I then used Dave's hot glue, to put them back together, and cut some plywood to go along the back of it, painted, and when dry, glued it back in place. This is currently sitting on a table drying. It has been there 24 hours, but I'll leave it another day to be sure it is completely dry before proceeding.

You may notice that there are no clamps holding the walls together at the tops. The walls are now being held in place with magnets. Actually, I performed a third test, using hot glue on the foam. It didn't melt the foam, and after leaving it for 20 minutes, I performed tests by connecting the test wall, and removing it over 50 times, and then leaving it connected for 2 days. The magnets haven't budged with using hot glue... So that is what I went with, and instead of cutting out segments for the magnets, I just pushed them in place before gluing go make the indentation. This is a game changer in my mind. I can even have a roof/ceiling on the dio held with magnets, and not worry. I am planning on a roof, just haven't yet got around to it...

Part 3 to follow once further developments have taken place.... To be continued.

Well, here's a 1/2 update, I suppose. After coming back from dinner and seeing that the backdrop structure had fallen apart, I did some additional work on it, so make it stronger. Now there's an improved version of the same structure. Basically, I put some thin plywood over the back of it, to give it extra strength. I feel that now works. However, I've decided to try plan B and take images of both options... See what you think... Plan A is with the structure, Plan B is using standalone stands. There's quite a few images here, as I was playing quite a bit to get the feel of both options. Nat and Kat joined in as well, so we can get perspective with figures in the studio as well.

PLAN A:














PLAN B:










I've just put a temporary door on the right hand wall. That may or may not become the proper feature. I am finding that with the backdrop in place, space becomes a premium, and very limiting. Perhaps I should have made this dio bigger, but it is what it is. Sometimes I've cropped the image to hide the behind the scenes of my attic, and other times I've not cropped to allow you to see the complete diorama.

I've only put one backdrop down for each option. Even though the standalone one, the fabric is double sided, so on the other side is white. I've held off cutting that fabric until I've decided which plan to go with. Also, similarly with the Plan A, the structure has two rolls of fabric, which and black. I've just shown the white in action here.

I'd appreciate other people's views as well... Should I go with plan A - the structure attached to the wall. Remember, that in real life, once it is attached to one wall it needs to stay there, so if you chose Plan A, can you also say Window or back wall as your preference? Or, should I go with Plan B - the standalone stands - More flexible in that they can be placed anywhere and can also take other backdrops like green screen, blue screen, gray, or themed backdrops with pictures of forests, beach scenes, etc. Although I could go with Plan A, but also have Plan B available, however, I'd prefer just to go with one or the other if I am honest.

There is still a lot more I am working on with this dio, but I'd just like to get the decision around the backdrop sorted first. Hope you enjoy the little modelling show, I did notice at one point, after Nat had fallen over, she didn't put her medallion back in place properly. Now's the time for audience participation...

[*** NOTE: this was a question posed on another forum, you don't need to respond here, as the decision has now been made... Just copying the whole process here, so you can see what was done.]

Another WIP update...

Some progress has been made. Even though I have been sidetracked in making a TARDIS...



So, here we are toying with the idea of a ceiling, of course, it wouldn't be pink. This is just a form board to see how it could look. It now has curtains, and some drawers. But I am feeling that the drawers have made the space feel too cramped. So, as this whole thing is on a base which is a table top that I've attached wheels to, there is actually another one underneath it, also with wheels. I've moved the bottom one out, and have tried various options, and think that giving more depth is the best option for my attic space.... Here's the potential size the dio could end up being:



With this option the space has doubled. But depth rather than width. I don't have the room for width... I like this idea, I can add another sofa or three piece suite, a coffee table, etc. On the new walls that need to be built, my plan is that behind the backdrop, that wall will have a roll-down garage-type door. This is only possible, because the studio is on the ground floor, but will allow for the potential of motorbikes, or cars as props to be bought into the dio. On the outer side of that wall, will be brick work, so I can double duty that garage door for other possibilities (The window wall is also bricked on the other side, these will match, and I might even try to match the brick placement, if it is at all possible. On the other side wall, it will just be plain. That area will house any other props, like stools, chairs, etc that could be used for shoots. I am planning to add the fourth wall (prior discussion, because if I do bring in other large props, it is likely that the fourth wall will be seen in images, so it needs to be there. Likewise, a ceiling will need to be in place, because of any lot to high angled images. I do have a couple of options for internal lighting, that I already have, so that shouldn't be an issue. I can either reuse the Spy Camp Accommodation lights, or I have another LED small strip that can be used too.

So, even though there has been progress, it is now slowed down, because more walls need to be cut, made (bricks) and painted. Oh, I do need to work on the rolling door. I've make a mockup, and figured out how it can work, so that's stage one. Next will be actually building the door, the scotch tape (cellotape) version can't be the final, as it would be too flimsy, but was good enough for a proof of concept.  



Above wooden slats taped with scotch tape, they will need to be trimmed to the same size, but this is just to see how well it would roll up over a wooden rod, see below...



Seems like that will work. I need to build some form of channels for the door to run up and down in, and a base that will hold it in place.

So, there's now quite a bit more work to do before this studio is ready for use, but it is fun getting there. I had to go through this process to realise that the initial size was going to be too small. Initially it was 3 feet x 2 feet. Now it will be 3 feet x 4 feet. I do believe I will be happier with the extra space, as it does give more options for photo shoots.

The idea around this studio, isn't for a static diorama, but a working one. As a photographer myself, I intend to make the studio a working one, to an extent. The Phicen Photographer will be taking images, and I'll take those images of her and the subject matter, as well as showing what the Photographer can see through his or her lens. Models have already been applying to the Photographer for modelling sessions, so it should be a busy studio once it is all up and running.

Update on the garage door.

Firstly, as the Proof of Concept seemed to work, I started out today lining up a bunch of slats... Measured up to 21 inches of them... Then attached them all with scotch tape first, just to keep them in place, then placed black Duct Tape to secure them properly. Once they were securely held, I trimmed the end, so that they were all the same size.



Here's the other side, as I started painting the slats black... As it is a modern dio, that is in a new complex, I've not worried about weathering them, at this stage. For use in future dioramas I may well weather and rust them.



Then when the paint is on, but still wet.



Once that paint was dry (after I had my lunch, and read a book for an hour), I then turned them over, and painted the ends, bringing the black to meet the first duct tape edge.



The thought process here, was that I wasn't sure if the duct tape would hold the slats indefinitely. So, decided to also glue some fabric to the back. Of course, I did first check there was enough room for the slats and duct tape to fit on my old backdrop structure. It did. Even though I did measure a few times just to be sure. It is close, but will work.

Next, was to start gluing the fabric to the back. I ended up using the old black backdrop fabric, that I wasn't going to use.



I used Fabri-Tac to glue the fabric to the slats. I also made sure to glue it to the duct tape. Now, I was half done, when I realised what an idiot I was. I put the fabric in place with the seams showing... Ah well. Wasn't going to rip it all apart now. It'll have to stay that way. Although, if I hadn't owned up to that, most likely no one would have noticed.



In the above pic. The fabric has been glued, and pressed. Making sure each slat had stuck. Then I attached the whole thing to the old backdrop structure, I had made some time ago. Once the glue was setting, I then put another strip of duct tape over the join of the door to the rod.

Next, I used some off cuts to make the wall for the garage door. Here is the door sitting in the door opening.



Next, I will attach some wood strips to act as the channel/groove for the door to run down. That will be tomorrow. So far, I am happy with the results. The height of the opening is 18 inches. Should be plenty high for most things... Width of the opening is 15 inches.

I've decided that, unlike all my other dio walls, this wall will only ever be used for the garage door. So, I am seriously considering permanently attaching the door to this wall. Currently not sure the best method to do that. However, I know I have at least a couple of days to decide. I was going to use the same brackets that I've used for the curtains, initially. But that wouldn't be permanent. Maybe I'll still go that route.

The only other thing I did today, was to cut the missing side wall (the one next to the normal door), and place the other walls/ceilings in place (or on top of the other ceiling). There's a lot of painting to do, and magnets to attach... But it is getting there.




That should give you a rough idea of how it could look, inclusive of the fourth wall.

What I do find interesting, is that this dio just, and I do mean just, fits into a corner of the attic. On the right you can see the house roof supports, and on the top left, by the table leg with wheel, there is another support. This thing probably takes up around 1/6th of the attic space...  That's all the update for today...

Since the manufacture of the door, more progress has happened.

I've worked on the bricks on the outside of the door wall...

First off, attach the magnets on the side of the wall. Two magnets were places on one wall, and then pushed into the side of the foam to make the indentation. Then with one magnet only, I pushed that on its own into the wall until it was flush to the wall. Then with hot glue, the magnet was glued in place. This was done with three magnets down the edge of the wall. Once the glue was dry. a matter of seconds. I attached the second magnet to each of the other magnets making sure the polarity was attract. Then pushed the other wall against them where the walls would line up. This is so we can get the correct indentation on the second wall. Once that was done a magnet was used to make the indentation deep enough for the magnet to be flush. Then the fun starts... I placed that magnet back onto the first wall on top of the magnet there, so polarity was correct, then put some hot glue onto the second wall, and pushed them together. This ensures that the magnets have the correct polarity to pull the walls together. This was repeated for all three magnets. Then the wall is joineed as below.



Now we start scoring. Doing the magnet/scoring in this order makes sure that the scoring is aligned across both walls. I have a 36 inch ruler that helps to keep the scoring aligned over the garage door opening.





Initially I just use a knife to very lightly score the bricks, then I use a scoring tool to make the scoring more pronounced.



All scoring done. Now for painting.

As before, I mentioned we did a grey wash for the bricks.



Followed by Scarlet Red... There's a reason I am going over this again...





Then we dry brushed some Burnt Umber, as mentioned before... However...



As we can see below, that didn't match up... NNNOOO!!!!! I realised my mistake was that I used Cinnamon Brown not Burnt Umber. I wrote my description down wrong, and made a mistake...



So, next I used the Cinnamon Brown to town down the Burnt Umber. It was closer, but not close enough. My next step was to dry brush some scarlet red back into the wall... This worked pretty well.



I have since matched the two walls by adding a little dry brushing to both walls, which has made them both look the same. Although I didn't take a picture of that. That was enough panic for one day...

The next day was painting the other side of the wall white... It was suggested to me to use PVA first, and then paint. My last experience of that was the paint cracked. I now believe that was because the PVA hadn't dried completely.

So now using PVA again, and I swore I'd never do it again. Then letting it dry overnight, and then painting, I didn't experience any cracking. So, I am pretty sure that was my issue. I've since painted that wall, and then added a top PVA coat. This gives the wall a Silk sheen, rather than flat matt.

I then took all the other walls, that will need paint, and made a mix of PVA and Paint together. The thought process here was that the combination would help start the painting process as well as put the PVA protection on. That will be left to dry until the next day.




So many walls!!!!! Until next time.

So all the wall and ceiling panels are now painted, and covered in PVA... They dried last night, and this morning I added magnets to all the remaining walls. Not the ceiling panels, as I didn't feel they needed magnets.

As I've currently got the door panel off from the dio, I'll show you how the magnets look in one of the other panels:



As you can see, there are three little earth magnets along the side edge, there are another matching three magnets on the door panel.

I've had a little play at sorting out the door wall a bit more.



I've cut down some tongue depressors, and glued them along the side edges of the door opening to act as the other side of the door groove. Then I painted them white, and called that good.

Then I've used large Command Picture Strips to attach the door structure, and door onto the wall panel.



I used 6 pairs of 7.3kg/16lb command strips, so it should hold this in place. It is supposed to need 30 minutes to set properly. I'm going to give it overnight. Then I'll try that wall panel in place, and have a go at opening the door. Fingers crossed everything holds in place. You can just about see how the tongue depressors are acting as the groove sides.

My next task is part of the dressing of the room. I've picked out some images I've take of the girls, in modelling poses and put them all on a A4 card stock, ready to be cut out...  I've sized these 1/6th images for  8" x 10" or 16" x 20" in 1:1 scale.

[**NOTE, I can't post this images, as they are not suitable for this forum. Need to keep it Family Friendly]

Next I need to cut these out, and then see if I can create a frame for them. If that ends up being too fiddly because of the size, then I'll probably just mount them as if they are on a seamless mount. Either way will work.

I have the light I am going to use as the inside office light charging, and I am going to see if it is just too large for a 1/6 diorama, which is a possibility. More will be shown on this light in the next post.

So, it has been 24 hours letting the Command Strips dry. So, had to put the door panel into the Studio, and test it out...

Closed:



Open a little bit, around 10-15%



Open Fully..



1/2 way closed:



I am happy with the door... As far as I am concerned, it works.

Next was to dismantle the ceiling and walls... Yes, dismantle it... In order to put the pictures on the wall.



Above was the flat pack version of the dio, for storage...

Aligning images for the back wall.



Reassembled to see the image walls:







I also added a few more power sockets around the other walls, as well as more images. The final steps were to add electrical cabling to the lights, and plug them into the sockets. Plus add the strip light on the ceiing.



Bird's eye view except it is missing the rug...



Rug added.

I would like to possibly add some little side tables, and maybe a coffee table. It is a pity I don't have matching sofas or a 2, 3 piece suite, but maybe sometime in the future.

Otherwise, I'd say this studio is ready for a grand opening... Comic coming up soon...

But Kat and Nat just had to give it a quick test out...



I now declare the Photo Studio completed.... There will be some additions over time, but the studio can now be used.

The photographer's hair matches the model's outfit! Coincidence?

I'm impressed by how snug the magnets cinch up the walls, with no appreciable gaps in the corners. I can't even accomplish seams that tight using glue!

The working roll-up door turned out extremely well! Ambitious attempt with admirable results!

The photos on the walls really give the space a "studio" look! Nice touch!

I'll be looking forward to seeing what you do with this space now that is "functionally" complete.

Very imaginative , skilled and creative dio , this is the sort of thing you keep coming back too and noticing something new . Very well made . You should be proud of yourself with this Colin .

Great work Colin!

Beautiful work!!!

Thank you for documenting this build for us. I know taking all the pics and explaining things along the way is almost as much work as the actual build, so thanks very much for the added effort!

Top work, it looks so nice!!!

It's looking great Colin!

But I wish to ask where did you find the studio strobes?
I have never seen those before.

Fantastic work Colin! It has certainly come a long way since the early conversations about it. Sure, you hit a few snags, but biy, was it all worth it in the end . i reckon it's gonna be hard to top this one

This is a superb How-To tutorial! Extremely clear and detailed, and nicely illustrated. You even mention the approaches that did NOT work, and you explain your thought process as the stages advanced. It is generous of you to describe this process in such detail. You’ve made an entertaining story out of the build, rather than it being a dry step by step list. Great stuff! I’m feeling inspired to build something!