Portland Works Studio

Portland Works Studio is a uniquely versatile photography studio space located in a stunning Grade II* listed Victorian cutlery works near to the centre of Sheffield. It is the studio base of commercial photographer Carl Whitham and is available for hire to photographers, videographers and photography educators.

The photographic studio is in a former industrial workshop that has been thoughtfully adapted to provide the ideal setting for professional, student and amateur photographers to push their creative talents with both studio lighting and natural daylight. 

The studio is equipped with a huge quantity of professional lighting and hardware, all housed in a 160 year old factory building that provides an alternate backdrop of grungy industrial Sheffield history.

Photography Studio Space

Portland Works Studio is a neutral space with whitewashed brick walls for background texture and the option of daylight through beautiful Victorian windows on both sides of the room. The studio is uncluttered and provides an aesthetically pleasing backdrop for portraiture and product photography.

F E A T U R E S
  • 15m x 5.5m (50′ x 18′)
  • 2.75m (9′) height throughout
  • Ten shuttered windows
  • Fitted kitchen
  • Secure changing room
  • WIFI 100Mb/s down 15Mb/s up
  • Wireless speaker
  • Ample heating
  • Ground floor access

Studio Facilities

The photography studio has ground floor access from the street and an oversized entrance to the rear yard. You can shoot along its length, or for a wider field of view, from the rear door looking towards the opposite wall of windows giving a camera to subject distance of 8.5m (28′).

We have a secure changing room with full length dressing mirror, clothes rail, iron, hairdryer … just about everything you need to prepare outfits and style your models for a perfect fashion shoot. Portland Works Studio is the ideal location for fashion and portraiture photography with its enviable studio heating to keep your models comfortable and looking good.

A fully fitted kitchen with electric oven, mobile hob and props cupboard makes food photography an easy pleasure.

Included Studio Lighting

Photography studio hire includes the use of four Multiblitz digital flash heads, radio triggers, various soft boxes, strip boxes, octabox, beauty dish, snoot, barn doors, grids and other light shaping tools. You also have a choice of large white, silver and black reflectors and a TriFlector to add further control.

Optional Broncolor Lighting Upgrade

The studio now has a comprehensive lighting option from the Swiss strobe manufacturer Broncolor.

We have two Broncolor Scoro 3200S power packs with six Pulso lamp heads that have a massive range of fully asymmetric power from 3.3J to 3200J and selectable flash durations down to 1/10,000 sec. These are the only strobe lights that can keep up with frame rates in excess of 20 FPS with no loss of light quality or exposure.

In addition we have a HazyLight2 for still life, a PulsoSpot4 and a tiny Mobilite with grids. As well as having access to the light shaping tools supplied with basic hire, the Broncolor upgrade comes with additional dedicated soft boxes from 120x180cm down to 35x60cm (seven varied sizes in total), as well as reflectors with barn doors, snoots, grids etc.

If you’re looking for the ultimate studio lighting to freeze action, need a shed load of power for macro work, or simply want to use the best lighting tools money can buy; Broncolor is available for a modest additional hire charge. Please see Equipment or contact us for more details.

Coloured Backgrounds

We have a selection of coloured 2.72m wide paper roll backgrounds. The backgrounds are free to use unless you walk on, mark or damage them, in which case they’re charged at £12.50+VAT per linear meter to cover the cost of replacement.

Additional Equipment

We can provide just about every additional item of photography kit you might need to make your shoot run smoothly. Studio photography is a joy with professional grip equipment to hold product and props safely, stands to support reflectors and scrims to add just the right amount of diffusion. All the tools to get the job done properly and efficiently. We keep a great selection of professional lighting and grip equipment in-house.

Video Production

For video production we have a mixture of Arri, Strand, Ianiro and Dedo tungsten lighting instruments, along with Aperture LED panels. Please be aware, the studio is not a sound stage – we have neighbours and they make noise too.

Photography Workshop Space

Portland Works Studio is frequently used for photographic workshops and product launches by leading camera manufacturers in collaboration with Harrison Cameras. It provides the perfect environment for natural light, flash or tungsten based demonstrations and workshops with ample capacity to comfortably tutor up to twenty attendees.

Workshop Facilities

The studio is ideal for teaching and demonstrations with its kitchen for refreshments, changing room and bathroom facilities. If you’re not self catering the legendary John Street Kitchen is a two minute walk away.

The studio is in easy reach of Sheffield’s main train station, on regular bus routes and has very reasonable on street parking.

Portland Works Studio has recently been hired by some very prestigious organisations for workshops and product launches. In each case they were able to use the comprehensive facilities to host trainees and delegates for a range of extremely productive events.

Fujifilm GFX portrait workshop day with Damien Lovegrove

Clients of our photographic workshop space

Partnered with Harrison Cameras for workshops and product launches

Clients of our photographic workshop space

Nikon workshop day with John Clements

Clients of our photographic workshop space

New photographic equipment launch and product demonstration

Leica Akademie portrait workshop day with Arteh Odjidja

Clients of our photographic workshop space

Workshops for degree courses and extra-curricular photography

Booking the Studio

Our photography studio hire comes in three simple packages which all include lighting. If you need something different don’t be afraid to contact us.

Half Day Rental
£160INCLUDING 20% VAT
  • 4 hours - morning, afternoon or evening
Two Day Rental
£440INCLUDING 20% VAT
  • Two consecutive 8 hour days