We are trying to fix the problem, currently the site is hosted by 123 reg.com and they seem totally unable to provide the sort of service required by a business!
we are currently moving our site to a different Internet Service Provider.

We are really sorry for the lack of service but unfortunately it’s beyond our control, we have asked 123 reg to look at the problem and waiting for their reply, but are not holding our breath, we hope our new ISP will be in place early next week.

Studio Two is finished and now in regular service.
Studio One phase one is near completion, we are about to put the plasterboard up and give it the final plaster skim, and hope if should be ready for painting towards the end of the week, we really need some warm weather now to dry out the concrete.
Due to the delays we have only built a little over half the infinity cove as we decided we needed to have a cove ASAP and will be adding the second half on over the next few weeks, having said that the cove is 17ft x 15ft in a room 33ft x 33ft so plenty of space for most projects the addition will almost double the width of the cove.

Now the first phase of the build (studio one & two) is coming to a close we have turned of minds to the second phase which is Studio Three, this name is slightly misleading as in fact it’s not going to be a single studio, it’s a complex of studios with different sets, currently we think we will have up to six areas with different sets, these will be proper sets and not just a few props dumped in a corner.  The size of Studio Three is 1300sq/ft (20ft x 65ft) making it bigger than most of the other studios round Cambridgeshire on it’s own, and in conjunction with the other studios the whole complex is  nearly 4,300sq/ft.

Over the last few weeks we have been building our picture framing workshop which is nearly ready to start production of bespoke picture frames, display cases and picture boxes. Our friend Colin AKA Santa will be running the framing as his own business situated in the studio and will have a separate website all about the service.  We were hoping to get the framing up and running sooner but unfortunately Colin broke his arm causing a bit of a delay but we hope he will be back to normal as soon as possible.

Work on Studio One is progressing quite well and casting the concrete blocks for the first section is nearly finished whilst the schedule has slipped a little we hope to have phase one of the cove finished before the end of April, then we will move on to the wet area, which will in effect be a 8 x 10 foot shower tray, once this is finished we will go back to the second phase of the infinity cove.

Our lighting courses have been selling very well from the Groupon platform and all 170 places were sold out in the first four hours of them going live. we are currently arranging more lighting and also Photo-Shop courses for the summer which will not be available on the Groupon platform.

Now the weather is getting a bit better we are going to start doing our regular barbecues, we will be running them every few weeks, mainly designed as a social event where models, photographers, make-up artists and indeed anyone who has an interest in photography can come along and network.  The studios will be open for people to use for free, however we will be a bit strict so they don’t get taken over by one person for too long, allowing everyone to have a go. There will also be ample opportunity to use the surrounding site for out-door photography, and we have a two acre pasture near the studio.  The charge will be £10 for every one and include the BBQ. Normally we start at around 2 in the afternoon and finish when the food has run out and everyone is fed up.

We have also just purchased a Elinchrom flash head to see if it’s what we need for the new studio, if it is we will be ordering a few more soon

We are beginning to finally find our feet after nearly seven months of building, Studio Two is finally finished (except for a few minor finishing touches) and we have started on the mammoth task of building the infinity cove in Studio One. The design has changed a few times as we decide the best way to use the space, so I’m not going to try and describe the cove until it’s finished, but I will say it’s going to be very large, probably the largest in Cambridgeshire, and possibly one of the largest in East Anglia.

Now that we have starting the building work on Studio One our attention is turning to plans for the rest of the space, we have had talks with the site manager about us taking on the rest of the building, and we are planning Studio Three which will have approximation six to eight proper room sets, (not just a few props in the corner of a room) The room sets will vary in size depending on how we decide to decorate them but typically they will be a three sided room, ten foot wide with two side walls of 8ft deep and a ceiling of 8ft, one side will be open to the main studio allowing a shooting distance of around 20ft and also the ability to position lights in front of the set.  The size of Studio Three is 20ft wide and around 65ft long. the unit has a ceiling height of around 20ft so we have ample space above each set for storage of props and equipment.

The final stage of the building will be to use the last of the units (20ft x 40ft) for a workshop and picture framing factory (Frame Works) with a shop front, plans for this project are fairly advanced and we hope to be finalising them over the next few weeks.

The total size of our studio will be over 5,000sq/ft. However there are also a number of small office units adjacent to the studio which could be rented by artists and photographers at a very reasonably rate. If anyone is interested is working from our site please get in touch.

Meeting at 7pm on the first Wednesday of the month, we are a photographic club with a difference!  Running a very different meeting format to many clubs, our meeting are much less formal, we do not spend all our meeting sitting in rows of chairs listening to a guest speaker drone on about images they have taken, instead we have a much more hands on practical approach.  we do not have competitions as such, but do have show and tell nights, normally tied-in with a social event such as a barbecue.  The idea of the show and tell night is simply for members to share their images and get some constructive informal feedback from the other members.

The club is made up of a good mix of photographer of different levels of experience from photographers who have been taking images for over 50 years to complete novices.   We meet in the relaxed informal cafe area of the studio.

Currently the studio charges £5 per night membership and provides tea, coffee and biscuits during the meeting.  When we have events such as a barbecue we will increase the cost slightly to cover some of the food for barbecues, normally supplying the basic stuff and ask members to bring their own beer and meat to cook.

Being based in a professional photographic studio, it is inevitable we will use many of the studio’s facilities, and even when we are outdoors the studio is always there as a fall back in case of bad weather For members coming straight from work the cafe sells a range of food including cooked meals.

The club is run by the members who plan the program for the following few months, we hope to have a wide and interesting program of events, also unlike most clubs we meet thought the summer.

The main way of communication with the members is via our website Face-Works.co.uk anyone interested in joining should email Martyn  Martyn@The-Works-Studio.co.uk and ask to be subscribed to this site. We have a forum section which we are currently working on, so it might change a bit and postings may disappear, so please don’t take it personally it’s just us developing the site.   We have not allowed an automatic subscription system to stop members being spammed but automated programs. we also reserve the right to delete anyone who becomes a nuisance.

Events

We have renamed the Studio Two Ante-room “The Salon”

The Ante-room (now called the Salon) has a 8ft ceiling and is painted grey, the studio has a 12ft ceiling and is totally painted black, ideal for low key photography and product shots, especially things like glass and shiny plastic. attached to the ante-room is the changing room with ample power sockets and two mirrors with make-up lights. one of the unique features of Studio Two, is the back drop system, behind the studio at 8ft high there is a platform that gives access to a hatch in the ceiling of the studio, where back drops can be fixed safely without the need to balance on a ladder, this hatch which is 2ft deep and 10ft long runs almost the full length of the rear wall and can also be used to shine over-head spot lights through allowing hair lights to be used. the ceiling has also been constructed the opposite way to a conventional domestic ceiling, with the joists underneath the ceiling and the boarding above, this leaves all the beams exposed and can be used to clamp lights to.