THE STUDIO It has often been stated that the commercial photographer packs his kit and I goes anywhere under the sun and photographs anything any time, which is really quite true. But, commercial photography's real purpose and the form in which it reaches its highest development, is the photographing of goods to sell those goods. This is the big argument of the commercial man in selling his services.
To carry on this line successfully and reach the maximum of business efficiency, it is very necessary to have a studio, and that studio well equipped. Of course, there are certain specialists who have no need for a real studio in their particular line, only workrooms, but even the specialist finds himself up against it at times, as right now I have in mind several photographers who have specialized in the photographing of automobiles only, and in the recent reduction in the manufacture of passenger cars, they found themselves without any work, whereas, if they had had studios, other work would have taken its place. Again, there is another class of photographers who have no studios or workrooms, and who are known among the "regular fellows" as "bathroom" photographers. They are one of the principal arguments for the use of a studio, as their quality of work is rarely, if ever, as good as that of the man who has a place of busi ness and takes his place as a business man, and they never reach the peak of efficiency, because they are handicapped, especially with regard to lighting con ditions, as a rule.
There is another side of this subject, and that is the question of price. I have always found from my own observation and experience in various parts of the country, that the man with the established place has more of a leverage for good prices, which, after all, is what everyone is after.
As the enlarging, paper and plate rooms will be discussed in other chap ters, I will take up herein the operating room only, and that, when used for general work.
The operating room should be very large and roomy, for one will find frequent use for a lens of extreme long focus, and then again, especially.on large jobs, there is need of storage space for articles before and after photo graphing. Also, there should be plenty of large tables, as many customers prefer to make their own layouts.
Another necessity, if one is not on the ground floor, is an elevator, easy of access, and opening conveniently into the operating room. This is more important than one would ordinarily think, as many customers will not send their work to a photographer, no matter how good he may he, if they have trouble getting it there.
While good work can be, and is being done in various parts of the country with artificial light, I am a strong advocate for a skylight, for there is always the added and not inconsiderable expense of upkeep for the artificial light, and not only that, daylight negatives in the long run are of a much better quality. This skylight is a matter of sonic consideration. It should be as big as pos sible, or, I might say, as big as the landlord will stand for, and preferably with plenty of top and side (clear glass) light. To my mind, the ideal skylight is per the diagram here shown, No. 28. With such an arrangement, it is not important whether it is a north, south, east or west exposure, the light is always good, although a north exposure gives the least trouble. In portrait work, you have always been told that a ground-glass, a prism glass, or some ribbed glass is really the best. Possibly it is for portraiture, but for commer cial work, a clear glass light will give the nicest and snappiest results, and it is quite essential to have top light if one works a vertical camera, as a side light alone will give considerable trouble in obtaining an even illumination.
Curtains for the skylight depend upon conditions, but for most places you will require a set of the opaque on roller variety, then a set of white diffusing curtains, and on the under-side a set of black (muslin, for instance) curtains, these latter two sets on wire. The purpose of this inner, dark set of curtains is to cut reflections on shiny surfaces. Many times you will have reflections which can be killed instantly without cutting clown the volume of light by the movement of the proper curtain, especially when photographing a set-up on a vertical camera. As a supplement to these curtains, head screens such as used by the portrait operator will be found extremely handy in cutting down or dif fusing light locally.