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March 2000

Building The Dream Studio by Alvin Gee Cr. CPP Master Photographer
Visually Appealing, Elegant And Meant For Business

After humble beginnings 20 years ago, I opened my first photography studio in a warehouse. Time passed and as my business grew, so did my creative surroundings. For many years, I dreamed of designing my ideal studio. I wanted a visually appealing environment that included all the special elements I had gathered from a decade of hosting photography programs and visiting studios across the country. My goal was to raise the level of my professional image and to create a first-class impression upon my clients.

When clients visit my studio, I want them to feel they are visiting someone who has artistic talent and discriminating taste. Location was one of the most important considerations to our future growth and success. So I took the plunge and purchased an 8,000-square-foot building next to Houston's Town & Country Mall, home to Neiman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. We are in the heart of the Memorial Villages, the largest and most affluent residential area in the United States.

Taking that "box" and turning it into a photographer's dream studio was a challenge well worth the investment. The result is my new 4700-square-foot state-of-the-art studio, complete with elaborate piano, fireplace, staircase, boardroom, and large group photography sets. I have decorated my entire studio with fine antiques that create elegant settings for portraits. The remaining 3300 square feet is used for storage and lease space.

As you enter the building, you are greeted with a beautiful foyer. The rectangular room includes an oval illusion domed-ceiling supported by a colonnade of nine-foot white columns inter-spaced with French doors and windows. The dome's neon cove lighting creates a warm glow that is reflected off the limestone floor. The room's accessories include an alabaster chandelier, a black baby grand piano, and a fireplace with inlaid green marble. Antique chairs and floral arrangements complete the foyer's ambiance.


A formal processional gallery hallway connects the foyer to a cascading staircase used for bridal portraitures. This hallway has a forced perspective. As you walk through the gallery hallway, the walls become wider and the ceiling ascends higher. The custom waterfall stairway leads upstairs to 1500 square feet of storage space used for negatives and props.

My reception area has antique wood flooring that was rescued from an old house. The room is furnished with oriental rosewood pieces and accented with large canvas portraits that are individually spotlighted by halogen bulbs. The fixtures are mounted on a functional track light system with dimmers, allowing for portrait display rotations.

The Children's Room, complete with a TV-VCR and beanbags, is where children watch videos while parents are making portrait selections in the projection room next door. The projection room is furnished with a sectional leather couch and allows clients to view their slides while keeping an eye on their children through a see-through window between the two rooms. To make the portrait selection process easier, the projection room's screening wall is made of a Velcro-like material with removable pieces that can be positioned to illustrate how a portrait will look cropped in horizontal or vertical formats.

Our portrait pick-up room provides a place to unveil portraits to the client for the first time. Portraits are displayed on an easel or on a large antique Oriental table.

We have two dressing rooms for our clients. One dressing room is decorated for use by women, the other for men. Both dressing rooms include professional make-up lights, mirrors, and clothing racks, and share a private bathroom.

My working home is a 24x26 camera room, with a 12-foot ceiling. I commissioned LaMarr Williamson to paint an ethereal 26-foot-long background in an Old Masters-style teal and purple. This background easily accommodates a 40-person group portrait. The adjacent wall houses storage shelves hidden behind 18-foot paneled doors that I use as a background for most business portraits. Two bookcases filled with law books and accessories complete this "boardroom" effect.

My staff uses two production areas. Production Area One is an 18x24 room that includes a small kitchen and lounge area. Production Area Two, located in the back of the studio, houses a 4x8 work island in the center of the room for frame assembly and frame inventory. We also use this room for slide copying and negative retouching.
As a small business entrepreneur, I needed a comfortable and functional workspace for myself. I have a teak desk and built-in bookshelves and glass display cases in my office.

Buying the building and doubling my studio space has exhilarated me and sparked my creativity. I work at what I love and I bring joy to my clients. Now I am doubly blessed to create artful memories in the studio of my dreams.

Alvin Gee Photography Inc. is a nationally recognized studio specializing in family and corporate portraiture as well as weddings. Gee was named Photographer of the Year four times by the Professional Photographers Guild of Houston. He is a Kodak Mentor and a member of the Cameracraftsmen of America.