Rediscovering Your Artistic Roots:
Achieving Success & Taming the Beast

By Casey Bradley Gent

Stepping backward isn’t something we talk about much in the business world—let alone professional photography. Mostly, we are consumed with moving forward: with catching the next fast track to color management and dreaming up promotions to keep our businesses on the A-list. For me, 2003 was all about catching that speeding train toward a huge studio with huge profit. After speaking to an incredibly receptive crowd at WPPI, I took another giant leap forward by moving my then-seven-year-old home-based studio to a modern storefront. Snowshoe Studios Inc. raced along—mall shows, greeting cards, a staff of five amazing women, a storefront in which no expense was spared—and what was left for me to do? Fire away.

Fire away I did, bringing eight or nine shoots to the studio each day and maxing out my weekends with high-end weddings. The key word in my misdirected growth is: maxed out. Without really stopping to analyze my art or grow my photography style, I had acquired more overhead than my superhuman pace could carry. While I understand that not everyone is fortunate enough to have a home-based office, there are 12 steps to opening a storefront and entering into a competitive lease that, in hindsight, I’d recommend every forward-moving studio owner consider. Initial costs associated in moving a home-based studio to a storefront include:

1. Rent with 5% yearly escalators. Many landlords will also require two full months rent before you occupy the space.
   
   
2. Cam charges. These are sliding charges that the landlord determines for such things as trash removal and groundskeeping. Keep in mind that on a $2500 per month space, cam charges can increase your rent by another $500 a month.
   
   
3. Staffing for storefront hours.
   
   
4. “Open door” requirements. Check with your potential landlord to see if there are required hours that you must maintain “open doors.” I ended up with about 20 additional hours of payroll each week beyond what I had paid in my “by-appointment” home office.
   
   
5. Signage. This is an important part of announcing your new space—plan on $1500–$3000 for neon.
   
   
6. Computer networking.
   
   
7. Gallery lighting. Remember that most retail spaces are not predisposed to highlighting artwork. Even if you consider moving into a “finished space,” allow an additional $12,000 per 1800 square feet for lighting such as pendants and dropped cans.
   
   
8. Security, including alarms, surveillance equipment, etc.
   
   
9. Multiple phone lines with DSL for sending digital images to your lab(s).
   
   
10. Furniture.
    
    
11. Common space allowances. This is another sticky spot and something you may not notice when you are new to the prospect of leasing. If your center votes for a landmark sign or other joint advertising adventures, you’ll be responsible for a monthly fee above and beyond your rent and cam charges. Check the policy on shopping center voting and shared expenses before you commit to a long-term lease.
    
    
12. Multi-level insurance that protects the property owner as well as you, the studio owner, and your gear. As I fed the beast that was Snowshoe Studios Inc., I starved myself, the artist. With the handful of charges that any lease incurs above and beyond the bottom-line of monthly rent, overhead becomes the number one consideration for you, the tenant.
    

So, it’s now three years later, and I have just backed off that bridge over troubled water. I’m talking about backing up now because I discovered that in the capitalistic drive toward global takeover, photographers risk losing the art of our trade.

This summer I subleased my beautiful storefront. With its deep purple walls and prominent place in the city, I miss the glamour. My home-based studio is buzzing, though, and I’m not the least bit saddened to be free from the beast. As a studio owner, dreaming big is important. Dreaming outside of your means and outside the realm of what your clients are really looking for—this is where our art can fall victim to the mighty dollar. What I have found in stepping back are the grassroots of my style.

Importantly, I’ve reconnected with my client base. Now that I am back to shooting in my home studio and on-location at surrounding parks, neither the quantity of shoots I schedule nor quality of clients I connect with has dropped off. It seems that by backing off the fast track it is possible to realize a moneymaking scenario. In our industry, people don’t come to a destination; instead the images reach out and touch the people, and the people come to the artist. In hindsight, the place of your studio is less important than the product.

There are two camera bags that accompany me everywhere. While I was focused on paying the bills for the last few seasons, I mostly focused my 80–200mm lens. It became so comfortable that my other lenses were dusty. Have you checked your own camera bags lately? I actually do own an 18–70mm lens plus a fisheye, and since I’ve resettled into those comfortable 1900 square feet so neatly attached to my home, I’ve had the drive and energy to try out some new techniques. For my clients, this is the season of wide-open, sweeping photographic art. You’ll see in my images a new sense of freedom and a new purpose to being a professional shooter. What will you see in your own images?

Perspective is the key in owning and operating a studio. If your product is good enough, your clients will find you. If your math is exceptional, you may conquer the beastly business of leasing. Be sure you are prepared for all the costs associated with a move, and recheck those 12 steps to leasing listed earlier. Mostly, know that stepping backward can be something that we discuss. After all, stepping backward is far better than wandering with no direction at all. As I collect images to submit to competition, and take phone calls for weddings in 2007, I find that my retreat may just as well be deemed a victory.

Casey Bradley Gent photographs 40 weddings a year, plus seniors and families. She shoots for the Denver Broncos and is a wolf resource volunteer in her free time. Visit www.snowshoestudios.com.