The Studio HTX — Local services in Houston

The management at this place is terrible. The space itself is great but the customer service is awful. Hoping to spare someone else the experience we’ve had.

We’ve rented this space several times, each time hoping it would get better. It only got worse. The studio manager/owner is always late opening the studio- sometimes a full half hour into your paid time slot and on several occasions we and our clients were left waiting with no one to answer our calls or respond to the emails.

The backdrop (seamless) they charge you full price for is usually not set up (after they finally let you in late) then once it’s assembled, the paper is dirty and used. Sometimes they don’t even provide it when you’ve paid for it, but will still charge you for it.

We have had clients complain several times that when they arrived at the studio the manager was no where to be found and once she finally emerged, was rude and unprofessional.

On our most recent studio rental, there were two huge dogs that came running into the studio where we were shooting, onto the seamless (dirtying the paper), almost knocked over our several thousand dollar camera on tripod, and jumped onto our pregnant client who we were photographing. I love dogs, but my client does not. You can imagine how frustrated she was having two huge dogs jump on her pregnant belly. She was terrified and so angry. I wish I could say the owner of the dogs came running in after them apologizing profusely, however this was not the case. We found ourselves spending another 20 mins of our paid time slot (on my clients dollar) trying to find out where the dogs came from and where to return them. When we finally found their owner (the manager of the studio who I suspected they belonged to) they casually just took them back, without even acknowledging how unprofessional and careless the whole situation was.

The space is nice for the price, but as working photographers/videographers who charge a premium for sessions, this place is way too dysfunctional. It’s a bummer that it’s been the same experience every time.

In summary, save yourself, your business, and...

Booked a Monday, 3 hours, at noon. Showed up 30 minutes early, wanting to see the state of the place, and was told, in no uncertain terms “No. wait until it’s closer to your time. Great! They’ve got to get the space ready. Went up, as scheduled, and? NINETY DEGREES. The roll paper I paid for? On the floor. Chairs, stools, scattered around the room. My time is precious. My models? Priceless. A half an hour wasted as we turned on the AC and organized the space. Not acceptable. The space itself? Open, airy, with windows most the way around. Windows with no way to control the light. No shutters, shades or curtains. If it’s bright outside, it’s bright inside. If you’re shooting available light, this could be an issue. If you’re shooting continuous light, it IS an issue. How many catchlights do you want in your models eyes? Two? Four? More? Then this is your space. Technical issues, yes, I can work around those- Just pay attention to where you set up. But back to the basics of the review: The space was not ready and that, I cannot forgive. (Accepting bookings for Portfolio Development. Affordable rates for location shoots in Houston Texas. Will discuss...

DON'T..

my first experience was pretty bad but, I decided to give them a second chance I thought maybe it was just a bad day. turns out my second time booking here was even worse. I arrived early 11:40 am because the employees at the cafe have no idea what is going on at the studio, my reservation started at 12pm and they told me they had to "clean" the studio at 11:58 AM by 12:06pm I was still waiting to use the space and they told me they were not able to give me room I paid for that if I didn't like it I could cancel the reservation, so inconsiderate as a photographer on a SUNDAY, with 12 clients waiting behind me to cancel when im already 10 min behind on schedule because they did have the space I booked available.. they gave us a very small room with no a/c my client and myself were dripping in sweat, make up and hair were ruined with in the first 5 minutes.. Super unprofessional, these people have no idea what they're doing.. such a waste of a beautiful space. THEY HAVE A LEAK IN THE STUDIO BUT THEYRE STILL RENTING THE SPACE OUT, ridiculous. needs to get shut down...