"pop-up studios"

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

has anyone here who doesn't have a dedicated business storefront/shop
had much luck doing a "pop up studio" ultra short term lease for portrait work...

i am hoping to do this sometimes soon, but have learned from friends who have a shop ( non photo )
that the local retail association/chamber of commerce &c would do their best to shut me down
because i am not part of their group.

for those who have done this, have you run into the same sort of problem? if so
how did you remedy the situation?

thanks !

dmr · Mar 11, 2017

I know that at least in this area (Omaha, US) I know of a few wedding photographers who have no storefront and get their business from word of mouth and web exposure and such. I haven't heard of any getting any heat from any trade groups or anything.

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

hi dmr
most of the wedding photographers i know have no studio and like the ones you know
get all their work by word of mouth and web exposure. being someone who is interested in
potrait work, not wedding work, i wanted to set up a temporary studio at a tenant at will location
( maybe on a weekend and set up a "portrait event" ) for a very short period of time in an affluent community. when i asked
a friend who has a shoppe in the same community what she thought of it, thats who told me i would
probably get shut down because local photographers pay into the local business organizations &c
and they would see it as unfair competition.

kind of stinks because rents are sky high ( people bought buildings when prices were through the roof and can barely pay mortgages i am guessing )
and they refuse to rent for less than2 years ... first last sec-deposits, ends up being a wheelbarrow full of $$$ ... and it isn't that
the vacant spaces are even nice, they are kind of trashy...

Luckless · Mar 11, 2017

It is very important to double check all your local regs on business things, and make sure you get your paperwork in order. Not much a group can do to "shut you down" if you're not violating any law or regulation after all, and if you're only set up for a week or a month then there isn't much time for anyone to do a lot against you anyway. Some Chambers of Commerce are rather sketchy and kind of mob like, but there are also many that are great resources and highly supportive of local business growth. Worth finding a few contacts with your local group to see what's up.

Haven't had a hand in doing something like this for a photo studio, but have been involved with a few temporary setups for other things. One of the problems we've had was actually finding a space and landlord who was interested in dealing with such a short term project. Dealing with someone who is expecting to rent out a space on one to five year lease agreements is not the easiest come to an agreement to when you're looking for something in the realm of a few weeks.

Business mixers actually proved rather useful for the projects I've been involved with - Finding people who were looking to secure a space for their use at a later time, basically us covering a bit of the rent money and keeping the place clean for a bit before they started their own move, or finding landlords who could be convinced that taking a few hundred dollars and having someone sweep the floors and wash the windows was a better option than it being completely empty.

If you're going for a walk-up store-front rental type, rather than 'buried away deep in an office building' kind of thing, then I would suggest targeting your efforts towards a space with 2-3 empty units next to each other. Empty units are ugly, and commercial landlords know this, and you may have more luck convincing them to give you a short term temp lease on one of them on the basis that it makes the other unit they're also trying to rent out look better. No one wants to be the only store open in a mall after all.

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

thanks luckless
yeah i have checked into the orgainzations and what she said was pretty legit..

we'll see what happens ... my eyes are always pretty much open ...

Eric Rose · Mar 11, 2017

These business associations seem to work like the mob. Pay us protection money or we will shut you down.

I say go for it. Gorilla marketing style.

faberryman · Mar 11, 2017

Can you explain what you mean by a pop up studio and an ultra short term lease? What exactly is it that you are thinking about doing?

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

Eric Rose said:
These business associations seem to work like the mob. Pay us protection money or we will shut you down.

I say go for it. Gorilla marketing style.

kind of like a food truck but with a avedon style 3 sided light box and a 11x14 camera !

faberryman said:
Can you explain what you mean by a pop up studio and an ultra short term lease? What exactly is it that you are thinking about doing?

a pop up studio is something very short term not a permenant location
maybe set up for "mothers day portraits" or a special event.
ultra short term lease might be for a week or 1 month ( if that )

i am hoping to make some portraits without the burden of massive rent/overhead.
i have spent the last 30 years shooting portriats on location. ( me going to them )
casual walk in / walk up portrait service sounds pretty good to me.

Truzi · Mar 11, 2017

Not totally without overhead, but have you considered fairs, festivals, and flea markets?

faberryman · Mar 11, 2017

jnanian said:
kind of like a food truck but with a avedon style 3 sided light box and a 11x14 camera !

a pop up studio is something very short term not a permenant location
maybe set up for "mothers day portraits" or a special event.
ultra short term lease might be for a week or 1 month ( if that )

i am hoping to make some portraits without the burden of massive rent/overhead.
i have spent the last 30 years shooting portriats on location. ( me going to them )
casual walk in / walk up portrait service sounds pretty good to me.

I can't imagine the Chamber of Commerce or trade associates would have time to get involved or even what the basis of their involvement would be.

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

Truzi said:
Not totally without overhead, but have you considered fairs, festivals, and flea markets?

i have, but not recently. i had a booth set up at an art fair/festival in this same town years ago. it was supposed to be "upscale" but it was a total waste of time...
the "booth" set up next to us was a card table / garage sale full of junk. haven't set up since ... we dont have any flea markets around here anymore...

faberryman said:
I can't imagine the Chamber of Commerce or trade associates would have time to get involved or even what the basis of their involvement would be.

it seems they have all the time in the world...
there are 2 photographers in town, one has been there for decades and the other is the daughter of an influencial business man whose wife works for the town ..

Bob Carnie · Mar 11, 2017

In Toronto the local BIA has a program to assist people to take on short term leases to do just exactly what you are suggesting John. In some cases they will negotiate
with landlords to get you very favourable rates..

For this type of venture I would want to make sure the local street traffic will support what you want to do.. Our friend Mac put a digital camera behind a old century camera
and did portaits on the street, in two days over 40 people posed for pictures... He was giving mini prints immediately to the people and took this on as an art project. so he did not make a lot of cash.
But if you got on a boulevard with an instant camera type of rig, many people will bite.

bvy · Mar 11, 2017

Truzi said:
Not totally without overhead, but have you considered fairs, festivals, and flea markets?

Same thing I was thinking. Or partnering with a small local museum.

faberryman · Mar 11, 2017

jnanian said:
it seems they have all the time in the world... there are 2 photographers in town, one has been there for decades and the other is the daughter of an influencial business man whose wife works for the town ..

On what basis would either the trade associations or the Chamber of Commerce get involved?

Peter Schrager · Mar 11, 2017

jnanian said:
has anyone here who doesn't have a dedicated business storefront/shop
had much luck doing a "pop up studio" ultra short term lease for portrait work...

i am hoping to do this sometimes soon, but have learned from friends who have a shop ( non photo )
that the local retail association/chamber of commerce &c would do their best to shut me down
because i am not part of their group.

for those who have done this, have you run into the same sort of problem? if so
how did you remedy the situation?

thanks !

Storefront. Com. Landlord with excess space looking for short term rentals i.e. popups

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

Bob Carnie said:
In Toronto the local BIA has a program to assist people to take on short term leases to do just exactly what you are suggesting John. In some cases they will negotiate
with landlords to get you very favourable rates..

For this type of venture I would want to make sure the local street traffic will support what you want to do.. Our friend Mac put a digital camera behind a old century camera
and did portaits on the street, in two days over 40 people posed for pictures... He was giving mini prints immediately to the people and took this on as an art project. so he did not make a lot of cash.
But if you got on a boulevard with an instant camera type of rig, many people will bite.

i might do exactly as you suggest. my printer runs off of a memory card, if i can figure out how
to print off of card, i might do EXACTLY as your friend did and pump out the prints on-site as "proofs"
and charge for actual prints ( sun prints or cyanotypes ) down the road... i'm trying to get my foot in the
door of a local art school/teaching space. maybe they will support such an operation....

faberryman said:
On what basis would either the trade associations or the Chamber of Commerce get involved?

not sure how else i can explain this.
local photographers or businesses who might be their friends, who have been in town are members /pay $$ to the chamber/biz/mainstreet association ..
they see me set up a temp operation that might take away from THEIR BUSINESS ( or their friends business ) .. they complain, as paying members
and the enforcers come by and give me trouble, or maybe i would have to pay a "protection fee" ...
it is funny eric that you suggest it is mob tactics ( listen to the crimetown podcast )

Peter Schrager said:
Storefront. Com. Landlord with excess space looking for short term rentals i.e. popups

exactly !!!!

faberryman · Mar 11, 2017

jnanian said:
not sure how else i can explain this.
local photographers or businesses who might be their friends, who have been in town are members /pay $$ to the chamber/biz/mainstreet association ..
they see me set up a temp operation that might take away from THEIR BUSINESS ( or their friends business ) .. they complain, as paying members
and the enforcers come by and give me trouble, or maybe i would have to pay a "protection fee" ...

Seriously?

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

yup, seriously ... or so i am imagining the whole thing going down ...
it would make for a great youtube video anyways ..

Eric Rose · Mar 11, 2017

If you give them proofs for the most part people will be satisfied with just that and not pay for the "real" prints.

removed account4 · Mar 11, 2017

Eric Rose said:
If you give them proofs for the most part people will be satisfied with just that and not pay for the "real" prints.

hmmm ... that IS a problem ...

Peter Schrager · Mar 11, 2017

jnanian said:
i might do exactly as you suggest. my printer runs off of a memory card, if i can figure out how
to print off of card, i might do EXACTLY as your friend did and pump out the prints on-site as "proofs"
and charge for actual prints ( sun prints or cyanotypes ) down the road... i'm trying to get my foot in the
door of a local art school/teaching space. maybe they will support such an operation....

not sure how else i can explain this.
local photographers or businesses who might be their friends, who have been in town are members /pay $$ to the chamber/biz/mainstreet association ..
they see me set up a temp operation that might take away from THEIR BUSINESS ( or their friends business ) .. they complain, as paying members
and the enforcers come by and give me trouble, or maybe i would have to pay a "protection fee" ...
it is funny eric that you suggest it is mob tactics ( listen to the crimetown podcast )

exactly !!!!

Canon makeS a little Bluetooth printer. .you can pump out prints without wifi etc

Peter Schrager · Mar 11, 2017

Do it in Boston silly...they won't care..believe me they like $$

Patrick Robert James · Mar 11, 2017

You are overthinking the whole "interference" aspect of it. There is really no way any group can interfere with you without creating liability for themselves. As long as you are doing everything legally, you can tell anyone who pops their nose into your business to pound sand. That includes the police.

I would think art fairs would be the place to do it, but only if you are doing something novel or unique, like wet plate or paper positives. Tough market really.

Good luck bro.

Arklatexian · Mar 11, 2017

Luckless said:
It is very important to double check all your local regs on business things, and make sure you get your paperwork in order. Not much a group can do to "shut you down" if you're not violating any law or regulation after all, and if you're only set up for a week or a month then there isn't much time for anyone to do a lot against you anyway. Some Chambers of Commerce are rather sketchy and kind of mob like, but there are also many that are great resources and highly supportive of local business growth. Worth finding a few contacts with your local group to see what's up.

Haven't had a hand in doing something like this for a photo studio, but have been involved with a few temporary setups for other things. One of the problems we've had was actually finding a space and landlord who was interested in dealing with such a short term project. Dealing with someone who is expecting to rent out a space on one to five year lease agreements is not the easiest come to an agreement to when you're looking for something in the realm of a few weeks.

Business mixers actually proved rather useful for the projects I've been involved with - Finding people who were looking to secure a space for their use at a later time, basically us covering a bit of the rent money and keeping the place clean for a bit before they started their own move, or finding landlords who could be convinced that taking a few hundred dollars and having someone sweep the floors and wash the windows was a better option than it being completely empty.

If you're going for a walk-up store-front rental type, rather than 'buried away deep in an office building' kind of thing, then I would suggest targeting your efforts towards a space with 2-3 empty units next to each other. Empty units are ugly, and commercial landlords know this, and you may have more luck convincing them to give you a short term temp lease on one of them on the basis that it makes the other unit they're also trying to rent out look better. No one wants to be the only store open in a mall after all.

Most building owners know that an empty building self-destroys rapidly and it is always better to have tenants than not. The exception can sometime be rich landlords who were left the property who decide how much they want and will not settle for less. I have seen property left empty for 20/30 years like that. Find a landlord who needs the money. They are, or should be, paying taxes on the property whether rented or not and need income just like the rest of us.......Regards!

Arklatexian · Mar 11, 2017

Patrick Robert James said:
You are overthinking the whole "interference" aspect of it. There is really no way any group can interfere with you without creating liability for themselves. As long as you are doing everything legally, you can tell anyone who pops their nose into your business to pound sand. That includes the police.

I would think art fairs would be the place to do it, but only if you are doing something novel or unique, like wet plate or paper positives. Tough market really.

Good luck bro.

Art fairs are a good for what you are looking for. Look into that. We have at least two a year and they draw good crowds with money to spend.....Good idea!.......Regards!

"pop-up studios"

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