WAngell

A couple of other bits... Heat is all in-floor radiant. 3 zones are; Office, Restroom+Foyer, Space. The office and restroom will likely stay around 70°f in winter and the space maybe 50°f. It could take a day to warm the space up so that will require some planning. AC is a multi-head mini-split with 2 zones; Office & Space. There is also a duct + inline blower between the peak of the mezzanine and the foyer. The thinking is that this can help to balance temps. We'll see. There is also a 5200 CFM variable speed exhaust fan (you can see it in the mezzanine). This is for 3 purposes; 1) Create a breeze w/ open windows for natural cooling (fresh air and less $'s than mini-split), 2) help to clear dust out from woodworking & set construction and 3) Create a light breeze for shots that need it. The breeze for shots bit may not work very well but we'll see.

Initially I am going all neutral white (except the office/storage/editing which will be Munsell N6 grey). I'm also thinking about doing the mezzanine grey (not Munsell $$$ though). I really debated white vs grey and I've worked in both (and black which I don't like to work in for very long). For now I'd rather have a lot of light and block out what I don't want. White (especially the ceiling) also works better for building sets and other similar chores. I will have blackout shades on the windows and may do some black velour curtains for the walls to give me some control versatility. I could also do a black cyc of some sort. I'll likely get some large sheets of black foam core or similar that I can fly overhead if needed. Fortunately paint isn't extremely expensive (on paper - when it comes to actually shelling out that's a different story) so I may well paint the whole place or some surfaces grey in a year or two. We'll see.

The building is finally almost complete so I can begin working on my space which is the second floor. Photo is from the camera location for a longer shot. There will be exterior french doors between the studio/shop space and the office so it should seal off pretty well for dust. The row of high windows to the left is a north facing wall. I don't know that I'll get much useable natural light but we'll see. The side walls are 6' 8" and the bottom of the center beam is 15' 2" so I've got some height to work with. For rigging I'm planning to do 4 16' lengths of unistrut (3' either side of center and 6' either side of center) though I'm open to suggestions. I am debating if I can mount it against the angled ceiling or if I should put some angled backers in so that the strut is level. I'm guessing it'd be worth it to do the latter but it may be a bit of a pain. BTW, the ridge beam is a 42' x 28" steel i-beam that required 2 cranes to lift in to place. That's what was needed to eliminate a couple of columns that would have been needed otherwise.

Thanks all for the valuable info. I'd hoped to have posted some of my street photos back here by now but I'm still exceptionally far behind on editing. Actually haven't even gotten close to finishing selecting what to edit! Here are some of my son's photos (not technically street, but...) from Buenos Aires: Buenos Dias, Buenos Aires

Some years ago I bought a box of zip loc bags that served me well but I seem to have lost them all. A D850+Battery Grip+70-200 would easily fit and D850+Battery Grip+200-500 would fit but tight. I believe they were 5 gallon and seem to no longer be available. Now it's either a 3 gallon or 10 gallon from zip loc and both have handles that kind of get in the way. Curious what others have found that works well. From a camera bag standpoint I sometimes only have my big bag that isn't so convenient for carrying in/out a lot.

I just wanted to put in a word of thanks to you guys for the great info in this thread.

We're planning a trip south. Does anyone know what restrictions there may be on street shots or other limitations we should be aware of? Thanks,

The 200-500 is a great value if the lens works for you. My primary and major dislike is the slow AF. This isn't a problem for some (and perhaps for better photographers than I) but I've missed a number of shots waiting on it to focus. It's great for cityscapes and still animals, a challenge for anything that's moving.

Thanks all. Good solutions. Ideally all lights s/b on the same trigger/control system (Buff Cybercommander, Phottix Odin, etc.). One of the advantages of these systems is allowing quick adjustments to lighting levels, particularly instruments that are less than easy to reach for adjustment. (And, while models were once understanding of the need to run around to adjust things, many today are accustomed to adjustments being made very quickly from the shooting position.) I'd love to see an industry standard for trigger/control that would allow easier mixing & matching (and provide for some entrepreneurship in the industry) but won't hold my breath. Scrim (mesh) can soften the light too much. When you want a hard light at a low level I think the only options are ND gel (but a pain to setup and can fade quickly) or a lower powered light source. Similar for moving a light back, as said above it does change the aesthetics. Many times these are not enough to make a difference but sometimes they are (and in my most recent case I'd have to have knocked down a wall to move a light back any farther). I've thought dozens of times about ordering a LiteMod kit but have been too cheap to do it and have been using much less expensive snoots and barn doors (that have actually worked quite well). Ordered a kit after reading your comment. Should have done this a long time ago and likely saved myself some frustration. Still a fading problem but much easier to deal with.

All very true. I ended up making my own fog juice so I could play with the amount of glycol and as little as possible as that's what creates a film on stuff. Overall it worked well and no film left on strobes or other stuff even though we had it fairly thick at times. Yep, AF was either a pain or non-existent. I was shooting at 2.8 for a shallower DoF which made manual difficult with the models moving a bit. Some haze would have helped with light beams as the fog didn't spread out as evenly as I'd hoped and dissipated too quickly. Next time. In the end I was able to get close to the shot I wanted though did run in to a 'strobes too bright' issue. :)

I've currently 2 Einstein's, 2 DB800's and 1 DB400. It seems about 1 in 5 shoots I've wished for a DB200 (1.25ws) or even a DB100 or two. In some cases moving a light back lowers the power easily but in others it's a bit more of a pain. I was doing a shoot with someone holding a candelabra the other day and simply couldn't turn down low enough. Moving the light back was a problem both for space and it changed the lightl considerably (7" reflector w/ 10° grid). I should have gone in search of my ND gel but that's it's own pain to cut and get on with no spill. And then keep replacing when it fades. I should play w/ the modeling lights more so that I can use them in these situations but they do put out a different light than the strobe and models respond differently under them.

I've always avoided using a fog machine near any musical stuff as the old ones use to leave a bit of a residue. Newer still seem to use the same water+glycerin juice. Any idea if these will harm strobes?

I'd double check on the weight limits. We didn't encounter any using Delta to Arusha and from Dar as well as Coastal, Regional and a couple of other local airlines. A possible exception might be if a local plane is fully loaded then the pilot might get picky. Each of us had 2 bodies (D5 + D800), 14-24, 24-70, 70-200, TC, tripod, speedlight, chargers, extra batteries and assorted misc filters and stuff. I also had a 200-500, 135 Micro, and 11mm. He had a 400. I had one 48 lb camera bag, he had two bags that I assume were somewhat lighter but together were likely 60 lbs. This in addition to our clothes. Camera bags were carry-on for all flights. Some of his photos: Tanzania | Africa | Destinations | For Instants If you've never been you're in for a treat!

Great shots! Reikan's FoCal software has been extremely beneficial to me. Both in fine tuning AF for various lens+body combo's (and at varying distances which makes a surprisingly big difference), providing aperture sharpness charts for each combo, and various other useful bits. It also shows how my lens+body compares to others with the same combo. My 85/f1.8D AF wouldn't focus w/ my D800 or D5 though still looks good on D200. FoCal said it needed an out of bounds -34 correction. Sent the lens to Nikon who said it was in spec. All lenses work well on D5 except that one. Interestingly, that lens works great with D850 (w/ -16 correction). Sometime I should look through everything but I'm guessing that my D850 is a bit to the + side and my D5 & D800 a bit to the - side and the 85mm to the minus side and so summed to an out or bounds problem.

The last workshop I did was in the mid 80's. I'm wondering if it'd be fun/beneficial to do another. Buff are promoting some by Nino Batista. Any thoughts on these? Good? Waste of time? Is the focus on photography or a bunch of guys getting to hang out with gals in lingerie? Thanks,