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There's a version of studio shoot preparation that goes: arrive at the studio, unpack the kit, light it up, shoot it, go home. I did that version for about four years and had a handful of genuinely painful days as a result. The cyc that was grey with scuff marks from the last automotive shoot and hadn't been repainted. The ring main that tripped when I tried to run the Aputure 600d Pro and the hair dryer at the same time. The internet connection that turned out to be a 4MB shared Wi-Fi password and killed my tethering workflow at 11am on a twelve-hour booking.

Now I run a 12-point checklist before I commit to any studio for a serious shoot, and a shorter version on the morning before every session. Here's the list.

1. Power: ring main mapping and amperage

The single most common practical problem I encounter on studio shoots is power. Not because studios lie about it — though some do — but because photographers and studio owners often describe power in different terms and don't notice the gap until something trips.

Ask specifically: what is the ring main rated at? How many independent 32A circuits are available in the main studio area? Where are the breakers, and can I access them without calling a manager? If you're bringing a Profoto Pro-11 (2400Ws), a pair of Profoto B10 Plus heads (500Ws each) and a hair light, you need to know whether those can run simultaneously on the available circuits without competition from whatever else is plugged in. The answer is usually yes if you map it correctly — but you need to know the layout first, not discover it when the board trips at the wrong moment.

For any continuous light setup — SkyPanels, Aputure 600d Pros (720W draw at max), HMIs — three-phase supply or at minimum a well-mapped single-phase 100A supply is the threshold for a meaningful kit. Confirm this at booking, not on the day.

2. Ceiling height — measured, not estimated

You need to know the actual working height to the nearest 10cm. Not the "up to" figure from the listing, which is often the peak of a pitched roof. Not the "approx 4m" that might be 3.6m when you measure it. Ask for the height to the rigging bar or the lowest fixed point, and ask what the beam load rating is if you're planning to hang anything. Under 3.2m working height and you're making compromises on overhead rigging before you've even started.

3. The cyclorama condition check

If the studio has a cyclorama, ask when it was last repainted and whether there are any scuffs or marks in the floor curve. This is the question that feels fussy until you show up and find a cyc that looks fine in a phone photo and is visibly grey and marked under a camera with a proper light on it. Product studios get scuffed fast — wheels of equipment, trolleys, shoes on the curve. A clean cyc that's been freshly primed and painted is a different working surface from one that hasn't been touched since Q3 last year.

Some studios charge for repaints as a separate service; others include a repaint in the rate if it's been used heavily. Ask upfront what condition you should expect on arrival and whether there's a condition report from the previous booking.

4. Backdrop inventory and seamless stock

If the studio provides backdrops, confirm what colours and sizes are in stock before the day. Not "we have various backdrops available" — what colours, what widths, what condition is the paper on the rolls. A 2.7m-wide roll of white seamless that's been half-used and has a crease mark two thirds down is going to be an issue if your shot list includes anything close to the floor. Ask to see photos of the current stock.

For shoots requiring a specific Pantone or a colour I haven't seen confirmed in photos, I bring my own seamless and paper. Slightly more kit to carry, but the alternative — finding on the day that the studio's "cobalt blue" backdrop is actually something closer to denim — isn't worth the risk on a commercial brief.

5. Internet: upload speed, not just download

Tethering to Capture One or Lightroom is stable on almost any reasonable connection. But if you're also serving a client preview via a browser-based approval tool or sending ProRes files to a production team in real time, you need upload speed as well as download. Ask specifically: what's the dedicated upload speed to the studio space? Is it on a separate business circuit or shared with other occupants in the building?

I've had studios quote "50MB broadband" and deliver 4MB upload because it was shared across eight units in a converted warehouse and the router was in a corridor two floors up. For any shoot involving live client approval or same-day file delivery, confirm the upload spec, test it on arrival, and have a mobile data backup plan ready. A 5G mobile hotspot is £15 a month and has saved more than one shoot day.

6. Loading access and kit delivery logistics

What's the loading door situation? Level access or a step? Is there a car park attached or is it street loading only? Can I get a trolley from the loading point to the studio floor without lifting? These questions seem administrative until you're moving 40kg of lighting kit up a flight of stairs on shoot day because the studio description said "easy access" and the reality was a Victorian converted warehouse with a tight stairwell. I've done that. Once.

For productions involving grip kit, large softboxes or anything with a meaningful footprint, a studio with a drive-in loading bay — where a vehicle can actually pull in to the undercover loading area — is a different category of convenience from a studio where you park on a side street and carry everything 80 metres. Worth the extra five minutes of research to confirm.

7. Temperature and climate control

This is the one that affects shoots with talent more than anything else. A studio that's a functioning room at 15°C when empty and has no meaningful heating is going to be freezing for a model in a summer dress at 8am. Conversely: a studio with no ventilation or air-conditioning running significant continuous lighting in July can be 30°C by midday. Neither extreme is comfortable for talent or for anyone trying to do precise work.

Ask what the temperature control situation is. Is there a central heating system or individual units? Can the temperature be set in advance so the studio is at a working temperature when you arrive, not warming up during your first paid hour? For shoots with significant HMI or continuous LED load, ask about ventilation — an Arri SkyPanel S60-C puts out meaningful heat even while drawing a fraction of the electricity a tungsten equivalent would use.

8. Green room and changing facilities

A proper changing area separate from the shooting space — with a mirror, good light, somewhere to hang clothes, and enough space to actually move around — matters for any shoot involving wardrobe changes. I have tried to substitute a curtained corner of a studio for a proper changing area. It doesn't work as well as it sounds. Particularly not for multiple talent with multiple looks and a stylist trying to do their job in the same corridor-width space.

Ask whether there's a separate room for hair, make-up and wardrobe prep, and what it's equipped with. If the answer is "we have a large studio so there's lots of space" — that's not the same thing.

9. Parking and crew logistics

Crew parking in London is a logistics problem on most shoots. Some studios have attached or adjacent parking; others are in controlled parking zones where a crew of five arriving in three vehicles is going to spend thirty minutes and £60 on street permits or parking meters before anyone's set foot in the studio. Confirm the parking situation when you book, not on the morning.

For studios that don't have adjacent parking: check whether the studio has a loading bay arrangement where you can unload before moving vehicles to a nearby car park or street. The combination of an efficient unload and secure nearby parking is, in practice, almost as good as attached parking — and often more achievable in inner London postcodes where on-site parking is structurally impossible.

10. Soundproofing for any audio-sensitive work

If your shoot involves recording any sync sound — interviews, presenter pieces, dialogue — do the clap test before your booking. Stand in the middle of the empty studio, clap once hard, and listen. Multiple reflections and a tail over one second: live room. Single short reflection with fast decay: workable acoustic space. You can't do that test remotely, which is the argument for an in-person viewing before booking any studio for audio-sensitive work.

Also: is there any ambient noise intrusion from external sources? A railway line, a delivery yard, a school, the building's own plant room. These are the things that don't show up in listings and surface on the day. A previous studio manager I know calls this "the Friday 11am test" — go to a studio on a normal weekday mid-morning, stand in the shooting space quietly for five minutes, and listen for everything you'd rather not record.

11. Natural light control

If the studio has windows — even if you're primarily shooting with artificial light — you need to know whether those windows can be blacked out effectively for shots that require it. A daylight studio with no blackout capability is great for natural-light work and useless for any setup requiring total light control. The reverse is less common but exists: a blackout studio with no way of getting daylight in for mixed-light work.

Ask: is there a full blackout option? Does it require a separate booking add-on, or is it always available? And how long does it take to deploy? Some studios have motorised blackout that can be raised or lowered in two minutes; others have manually-installed blackout that takes thirty minutes to fit. The difference matters to your session planning.

12. The prop and surface inventory — what's included and what's hire-only

Most studios list some form of "props included" or "furniture available." Before you assume that means what you need will be there, ask for a specific inventory. Not a general "we have various furniture and props" — a list, or photos, of what's current and in good condition. Tables, chairs, textured surfaces, living room furniture, kitchen setups if relevant. Props wear out and degrade. A studio's "white Scandinavian dining table" might be the same one that's been in the listing photos since 2019 and has been moved several hundred times.

For any brief where specific prop elements are client-facing and need to match a brand aesthetic, bring your own or pre-agree the exact items with the studio. A prop you've confirmed in writing is there and usable is a different thing from a prop that was "available last time" and has since been retired, broken or lent to another booking.

Twelve points. Most of them take five minutes each to check before you book, and maybe two minutes each to verify on the morning. The ones that catch you unaware — the ring main that trips, the dirty cyc, the upload speed that's a tenth of what you need — reliably cost more than five minutes to deal with on the day. The math on doing this check is not complicated.

Creative Studio Hire lists photography and video studios across the UK with contact links for direct booking. A useful starting point — but still run the checklist before you commit.

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