Will You... Come To My Pole Studio?

I’m so excited when dancers ask if I would do a shoot at their home studio. My immediate response is - YES!! I would love to. Doing what I love while traveling is literally my dream.

But first, we need to make sure it is a suitable space to shoot so I can deliver the highest quality both of us expect from these videos! Especially if I can’t visit the studio beforehand, I’ll need to get as much information as possible about the layout, lighting, and rigging.

Some questions I’ll have are…

What is the lighting situation? and What time of day does the studio “look its best”?

The video shoot aesthetic may depend highly on the studio. If your studio has no windows and the only available lights are far from the subject, I will need to know so I can come prepared with lights, and think of how I want to position them.

What is the parking situation? Will I easily be able to load my equipment into the studio - is there an elevator if it is a 2-floor space?

Is it a safe area? Will I be okay transporting gear in and out of the studio alone? Are there accessible ubers/lyfts/rideshares in your area?

Does your studio allow for video shoots? To my surprise, some studio owners actually don’t want to host shoots. Double check beforehand!

Where are the mirrors in the room? I never want to see myself in your final video, and if mirrors are lining the walls of the room, it may be unavoidable! 

On that note, are there a lot of background distractions in the ideal shooting area, and can they be moved? Otherwise, do you care if they are in the video?

Do the poles go up, or can they be taken down easily?

What are the dimensions of the shooting space? A key component of shooting at your space is finding out how much room I have to work with. Since I’ll be moving around as I film, I’l need to know that I have at least as much space to capture your whole body in-frame for my widest shot. This is usually about 9-10 feet away from the pole.

How high are the ceilings? Will the space only accommodate certain apparatuses, or certain tricks based on the height?

Where are the outlets, how many are there, and are they functional? Since I often bring my own lights, I will need to know what options I have and if I will need extension cords.

Wow. I know that was a lot more than you expected when you said it would be cool to host a shoot at your studio. For me too, it’s been a learning experience of what spaces are best suited for video shoots. While realistically any studio can be filmed at with just me and my camera, I would never want the quality of the video to be compromised! Please get in touch with me if you think your space could accommodate a video shoot and others are interested as well.

Feel free to join my Facebook group to ask specific questions :) https://www.facebook.com/groups/theinspiredcapture