So this may be a bit of a diversion from photography, but it’s such a great find i had to share.  I’ve been really impressed with some of the products Costco has been bringing into the Vancouver store recently.  I tell my friends “before you ask me where it’s from,  fill in ‘Costco’ and if it fits, that’s your answer”   If I could change my Facebook status to ‘in a relationship with Costco’, that would also work.

So on my last weekly visit i came across this gem,  100% recycled paper that IS NOT bleached.

It’s almost too good to be true, made with renewable energy,  no trees cut,  no Chlorine bleach (one of the most caustic cycles in recycled paper) and 100% recycled.

The one negative would be that the paper is not as pure a white as the traditional office papers which are bleached and do come from trees,  but in this ‘green’ age, beige could be the new white!

I ran a test on the inkjet between the two papers and you might think the ink would blend more on a ’softer’ recycled mix, but the printed text actually looked slightly sharper on this paper… Wow!

For the month of November,  BC hydro is offering a $15 immediate rebate off LED bulbs at Home Depot in BC.  I was amazed to learn that changing out just the four – 60 watt overhead incandescent bulbs in my kitchen amounts to $456 in energy savings over the life of the bulbs.    Well so far, I’ve changed out about 35 bulbs of varying wattage reducing  1200 watts of energy usage… That is close to the equivalent of a space heater or or  hair dryer.

So according to the rated energy savings of these new LED’s over using incandescent bulbs,  that equates to appprox $2830 over the lifetime of the bulbs (rated between 25,000  and 30,000 hours ea.).  The cost of purchasing these lights so far has been $550.

Compact fluorescents contain mercury and produce ‘dirty electricity’ that can lead to chronic fatigue syndrome, which is characterized by muscle aches, weakness and fatigue, and may also may cause headaches, depression, aches and pains, dizziness, memory loss or confusion; and impaired sleep… this has been one of the main reasons i have switched back to incandescent (from fluorescent) and now to LED technology.

In the past I have used a combination of daylight, and cool fluorescents mixed with tungsten bulbs to get as close as possible to ‘daylight’ – 6500 kelvin’ light temperature in the makeup room and print media room.   You may be saying ‘you can get daylight fluorescents’, but they produce excessive UV and are missing noticeable parts of the spectrum.   I was very pleased to find a 40 watt Philips LED that produces 5000 kelvin which is a very acceptable color temperature for my makeup artist to work under*.    My digital camera is  balanced to 6500 kelvin as ‘daylight’ (•as is yours),  and my flash equipment is daylight balanced so it makes sense to create an environment for the makeup artist  that mimics daylight as close as possible.

Some additional advantages:

Instant ‘on’ light  •  Dimmable  •  Mercury and lead free  •  quiet (no hum) operation •  Emits virtually no heat and will not fade fabrics or furnishings  •  Color temperature stays consistent as you dim (tungsten goes noticeably orange)

While LED’s are still relatively expensive to make the jump, especially when the payback is over years,  you have to ask the questions about your health, overall carbon footprint, and practical uses to determine if they are right for you.

*refers to the the calibration of your digital camera – Daylight = 6500K,  not what you have it set on  i.e.  shade, cloudy, flash etc.

*Philips Lumileds’ patented conformal coating process addresses the issue of varying phosphor thickness, giving the white LEDs a more homogeneous white light – WO 2008104936

Well its’ been a banner year with studio rentals… I think i had my favorite last week when Danny Glover and Bruce Greenwood were in shooting covers for their new movie ‘Donovans Echo’.  In the hopes of getting more of these projects I thought it was time to update some of the studio images.

As you may have read in a previous post,  the studio has had a major sound upgrade including a sprayed ceiling and sound insulated walls.  Not only have these products proven to be very effective,  I think they give the space a great ‘aesthetic’. (click above image to enlarge)

It was hard to give up my gym,  but let me introduce you to the new media room.  This space is adjacent to the studio and makes a great multi purpose room for an additional makeup station, change room, meeting area, or to simply hang out.  You are also able to connect your peripherals to the monitor for presentations and access the internet.

Above is the south facing view as you exit the studio with the media room to the right.  At the end of the hallway is an additional common area which is  just off the entrance of the building… another great multi-purpose room with a kitchenette attached.

This is the north facing view looking into the studio  giving a glimpse of the newly renovated bathroom.  Custom rubber backed matting eliminates  sounds from those hard soled shoes during audio recording, and just looks good when you’re walking in for a photoshoot.

Welcome to Vancouvers best soundstage!  I have put a great deal of effort this year improving the studios sound absorbing abilities and sound barriers.  One of the big challenges has been getting rid of the echo of cinderblock walls in such a large area.  The Monoglass on the ceiling made a huge difference in echo reduction but there was still a subtle reverberation in areas.  It’s a challenge when you have a big open area without carpets and soft furniture to block the waves.  I looked to a studio solution with sound absorbing walls.  These materials were quite expensive and had to be shipped from the US ($$$).  I quickly learned that even mattress foam can be packaged and marketed as a ’sound wall’.  I decided to create my own custom solution and specialty ordered my own foam design to spec.  Most of the products out there are only a medium density foam cel and none had any fire rating.  My panels are fire rated, one of the highest density foams, and 40% thicker than most of the options i found online.   More density = better sound absorbtion.

It was notable that the minute the bundles were brought into the building that there was an immediate ‘buffering’ of the interior noises.  I was getting excited to ‘hear’ and ’see’ the placement on the walls.

Each panel was sprayed with ‘Super 77′ as well as the wall where it was to be placed.

The panels are turned alternately to best ‘capture’ the sound waves from all angles,  that plus i think it gives a great aesthetic!I wrapped the whole perimeter of the studio from the ceiling down 8′,  excluding the cove.  I would have brought it to the floor but that was not practical within a working space, that and the fact that people would probably be touching and tearing them (human nature sucks).   Each 10′ section between the pillars (24 panels) was  $720 ($30/panel).  If you would like any of this product for your space, feel free to contact me.

Next to the new Roof,  this simple enclosure was one of the most expensive jobs i have taken on.  The City of Vancouver sure Sticks it to you with permits and shirking responsibility.  Apparently any wall over 6′ has to be engineered… And engineers aren’t cheap, even for the simple jobs ($1000) .  Then you have to get your building permit and construction permit ($860).   These permits used to include inspections, but on this job my engineer was the one who had to come and inspect the job on 2 occasions ($567).    $2367 and i had not even started the job… for filling in a hole in my wall!!!

Three loads of cinderblock in the truck, and three more loads for concrete and sand.   All these were loaded into the studio when i had a flash of intelligence… I picked up 8″ blocks instead of 12″ blocks.  I forgot my building had an oversized rear wall! -  oh well, i just write it off as needed exercise.

In a photography studio your great enemy is dust.  These are not exactly my favorite projects because of the mess, and that they take so long to complete.

I don’t know what was more painful,  seeing this huge mess,  or seeing this huge mess on my brand new driveway!  The wall had to be built with rebar and filled with concrete,  I think there were no less than 20 bags of concrete, and 40 of sand!

This made an amazing difference for soundproofing the building.  Once the doors were put in and closed,  all the outside noise was cut off… far superior to the garage door!

2010 is most definitely the ‘year of the reno’.  For my 20th anniversary the studio got a major facelift.   This has been a big project i was wanting to tackle for years.  I’m so fortunate to have friends like Gary and Ildyko from Concrete Concepts who did an amazing job for me.

This little beast worked for two days digging up the back lot and leveling the slope.

His crew worked fast, there was not a great deal of set up time as as the concrete had to be at an ideal firmness for stamping.  Fortunately it didn’t rain and wasn’t overly hot.

This is a pretty thick pad,  Probably at least 8-10″ thick in some spots.  I hope i never need to dig this lot up again.

Gary tried a new technique on my driveway,  he pre-coated all the stamps with a dye that colored the concrete.  Previously they used to powder the concrete directly.  This technique worked really well as the dye concentrated at the creases which really emphasized the natural stone look.

Studio 31 is popular as one of the quieter production spaces in Vancouver… I figured it was time to dive in head first and make it the number one sound stage.    This latest project was so daunting, I have been putting it off for years.  I had a faulty monoglass installation from 10 years ago that needed to be stripped out and resprayed.  The studio had to be emptied,  covered in poly and sprayed with fibreglass impregnated with glue and black paint.  You can only imagine how messy this endeavor was.  Not only is the sound quality improved, but this added R20 insulation to the new roof which now totals about R40… yet again reducing our carbon footprint.   Monoglass is also inert and guarantees a minimum of 37% recycled content which is good for the environment.The studio was completely enveloped with Poly

this was the first half of the process – pulling down the faulty insulation.

Although the spraying was messy, itchy, sticky and dripped black paint for a couple of days,  the sound quality of the shooting space is now perfect for my video rental clients.  This will be further perfected with the removal of the garage door and installation of  sound proof steel doors… more blogs to follow.

A total of 4.5″ was applied to the ceiling (over double the listed amount in the above chart)

Here is the ‘Precious’ music video filmed at the studio.  Except for the obvious location shots,  everything was filmed ‘in house’ from the kitchen and office space to the shower and of course, the amazing wrap-around high key cove.

My friends a Jungle media did a great job producing this video on a very tight budget.  It was filmed entirely on Red cam and this compressed video does not begin to do it justice. . . keep your eyes open on Much Music for the real deal!

If I ever sell the building,  this is probably the one upgrade that will not stay.   The canopy on the back of the building has been reading ‘Oriental Dragon Imports’ since I moved in.   I never thought it prudent to advertise ‘photo studio with lots of goodies’ til i got the security up to date.  The small ‘31′ out front has helped guide my clients to the door,  but It was time to finally give the logo a home.  For too long i’ve been saying ‘look for the silver truck and palm tree out front!’

double click to play!

Well maybe not exactly. . . it was more a hellish year building this kitchen starting with heated flooring and working on up.  Good news is its done and ready to be used. The Cabinetry was all custom thanks to my friends at David Lane Office Furniture. I’m so glad i didn’t go the Ikea route. . . what a quality difference!

With the exception of the fridge,  all the handles run horizontally.  I wanted a very linear look.  The cabinets are tall and narrow contrasting the handles.  The countertops, are all ‘Silestone’ with quartz. . . one of the toughest countertops that never needs sealing – I got them at a great deal as offcuts from a Vancouver apartment project.

As my dad used to say “now you’re cooking with gas!”.   The instant heat is amazing to cook with and brings life to the kitchen.  The stainless steel looks fabulous against the dark cabinets and floor, but the combination has proven to be quite a challenge to keep looking clean.

Here’s the reverse angle.  The slate wall was brought from China, it’s hard to believe that it is cheaper to produce and ship from half way round the world than to buy locally (about 1/2 $).  The flat screens channel cable and video surveillance in every room. . . I’ll never miss a moment of Top Model or Heroes!

For reference,  here’s the kitchen i endured for the last 12 years,  This Reno was a welcome change!