If you're producing a shoot in Leeds — whether you're an agency producer with a campaign to deliver, a brand's in-house team booking your quarterly content day, or a freelance photographer with a client in tow — here's the short version of what your day rate buys at Dock Street:
A 1,200 sq ft column-free shooting space with a 4.2-metre white infinity cyc wall, a full continuous and strobe lighting package, Capture One tethering on a calibrated studio Mac, broadcast-grade audio, a kitchen, a private makeup and changing room, a client seating area, free on-site parking, and a roller-shutter loading door straight onto the floor. All included in the standard rate. No surprise add-ons for the basics, and no emailing three times to find out the ceiling height.
This page is the answer to every pre-booking question we get. Read it once and you'll know whether the space fits your brief before you pick up the phone — and if you're a producer, it's written to be forwarded straight to your photographer or DOP.
How big is the studio, and how high is the ceiling?
The main shooting floor is roughly 1,200 sq ft of clear, column-free space at Unit 9, Dock Street, just south of Leeds city centre. Ceilings run 4.2 metres at the apex of the cyc, dropping to about 3.6 metres at the walls — proper headroom for boom arms, overhead softboxes, jib work, or a model with a parasol if that's what the brief calls for.
The footprint comfortably handles:
- Full-length fashion and editorial sets
- Three-person podcast or interview tables with two cameras
- Small vehicle and motorbike work (shutter open for entry)
- Product tabletop with overhead rigs
- E-commerce flat-lay with two operators working simultaneously
If your team is coming over from Manchester, Bradford or Wakefield and you're used to cramped converted lofts, you'll find the proportions easy to work with — and easy to fit a client village into without anyone standing in the shot.
What backdrop options are included?
The headline feature is the white infinity cyc — coved on two sides, repainted between bookings, and big enough for full-figure work without seeing the seam. It's the workhorse for fashion, e-comm, video interviews and anything needing a clean key.
Also in the room as standard:
- Black backdrop wall (matte, non-reflective)
- Paper rolls in white, light grey, mid-grey and black — fresh drop set on request
- Floor protection sheeting for messy shoots
- C-stands, sandbags, apple boxes, flags and reflectors — the grip kit you'd expect
Need a colour paper we don't stock, or a textured muslin, to match a campaign palette? Tell us a few days ahead and we'll order it in at cost. Agencies working to brand guidelines do this all the time — send the hex code and we'll find the closest Colorama.
What lighting comes with the studio?
Lighting is included in the rate — you don't hire it on top, and your photographer doesn't need to van their own kit across the Pennines.
Continuous (LED):
- 4 × Godox SL150 II (150W daylight)
- 2 × Godox SL60 II for fill or background separation
- Fresnel attachments for hard sources
Strobe:
- 2 × Godox AD600 Pro (battery, fully portable)
- 2 × Godox AD400 Pro
- Godox X-Pro trigger (Nikon and Sony fits available)
Modifiers:
- 120cm and 90cm octaboxes
- 60×90cm and 30×140cm softboxes (the strip is brilliant for catchlights)
- Beauty dish — silver and white interiors, with grid and sock
- Standard reflectors with 20°, 30° and 40° grids
- Shoot-through and reflective umbrellas
- 5-in-1 collapsible reflectors (large and medium)
- Black and white flags, plus a scrim frame
That covers almost any commercial or portrait brief without bringing a single case of your own. Prefer your own modifiers? The Godox bodies take the standard Bowens mount, so your kit clips straight on.
Can the client sign off frames on the day?
For agency work, this is the feature that earns its keep: tethered capture is built into the studio, not an afterthought.
- Studio Mac (M-series, calibrated reference display)
- Capture One Pro, licensed and current
- USB-C and USB-A tether cables in 5m and 10m lengths
- Tether Tools JerkStopper and over-table tether arm
- CFexpress and SD card readers on the bench
Every frame lands on the big screen within a second of capture, which means your client, account lead or art director can approve looks in real time — no "we'll see in the edit," no reshoot risk, no awkward call two days later. The seating area sits in eyeline of the monitor for exactly this reason. Frames signed off on the day are frames nobody argues about in the post-production meeting.
Bring your own laptop and presets if you prefer your own session — the cables and the desk are yours either way. The Mac handles Nikon Z, Sony Alpha and Canon R bodies out of the box.
Can I record audio for a podcast, video or social content day?
Yes — and it's broadcast-grade, not a USB mic from Amazon:
- Zoom F6 six-channel field recorder (32-bit float — no clipping, ever)
- Deity S-Mic 2 shotgun on a boom for video
- 2 × Deity SL2 wireless lavalier sets (digital, rock-solid in our RF environment)
- Wired XLR runs to each podcast seat
- Headphone splitter and four monitoring sets
This is the same setup we use for our own client video work, so it's tuned to the room and ready when you arrive. For brands running batch content days — one location, a stack of reels, interviews and product video in a single hire — it means stills and broadcast-quality video off the same floor without a second supplier.
What about Wi-Fi, kitchen and somewhere to change?
The boring-but-essential stuff is what makes a ten-hour production day bearable:
- Wi-Fi: symmetrical fibre, typically 500+ Mbps both ways. Fast enough to upload selects to a client in Harrogate or York between setups, or run a live remote approval over video call for the stakeholder who couldn't travel.
- Kitchen: kettle, filter coffee machine, fridge, microwave, sink, mugs and basics (tea, coffee, sugar; milk on request). Sainsbury's is a five-minute drive if catering plans change.
- Makeup and changing room: private, with mirror, ring light, hanging rail and a separate WC. Talent doesn't get changed behind a backdrop — agents notice these things.
- Client seating area: sofa and chairs with sightline to the tether monitor, for clients reviewing or talent waiting between looks.
Where do we park and how do we load in?
Genuinely easy, which isn't always true in central Leeds — and on a production day, load-in is half the battle:
- 2 dedicated bays outside the unit, free for hirers
- Overflow on-street parking on Dock Street itself (free after 6pm and Sundays)
- Roller-shutter loading door straight onto the shooting floor — no stairs, no narrow corridors, no awkward lifts
- Vehicles up to Sprinter size pull right up to the door
We're a short hop from the M621 (Junction 3), ten minutes from Holbeck and Hunslet, fifteen from Headingley, Hyde Park, Chapel Allerton and Roundhay, and an easy run from Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Bradford Airport. For agencies sending crews from Manchester, it's motorway nearly door to door.
What hours can we access the studio?
Standard day hire is 9am–6pm. Half-days run 9am–1pm or 2pm–6pm.
Need an early call or a late wrap? Extended hours are £35/hour, and overnight or weekend hire is fine with notice. Production schedules slip — we know. Flag it when you book and we'll build the buffer into the diary rather than scrambling on the day.
What's NOT included in the standard hire?
So nobody gets a surprise on the invoice — and so your cost sheet is right first time:
- A photographer or videographer. Studio hire covers the space and kit. If you'd like Mark behind the camera, that's a separate booking.
- Retouching and post-production. Hourly or per-image, quoted on the brief.
- A studio assistant — available at £25/hour for a second pair of hands.
- Catering — we'll recommend nearby caterers in Holbeck and the city centre.
- Talent, models and stylists — we're a studio, not an agency, but see the FAQ for introductions.
- Specialist kit — additional cameras, cinema glass, gimbals, sliders, drones. We own a lot of this but it lives with Mark's main kit, so flag it ahead.
- Backdrop damage or paper usage beyond a reasonable amount.
If you need something not listed, ask. The answer is usually yes, for less than you'd expect.
What add-ons can I book?
The common upgrades, in rough order of popularity:
- Photographer + studio package — Mark, Nikon Z8/Z9, full Sigma Art and Nikkor Z lens kit, all included
- Video package — second body, gimbal, slider, Zoom F6 audio, full lighting
- Retouching — per image or hourly
- Studio assistant
- Extra paper roll colours (ordered at cost)
- Extended or out-of-hours access
For agencies running repeat campaign work, ask about block bookings — locking a quarterly content day into the diary is cheaper than four ad-hoc hires and guarantees the date through busy season.
FAQ
What's the minimum booking?
A half-day (four hours). We don't do single-hour hires — by the time you've loaded in, set up and packed down, it isn't fair on either side.
Do I need to pay a deposit?
Yes — 30% secures the date, balance due seven days before the shoot. Repeat clients and agencies on account are usually invoiced after the shoot on standard 14-day terms.
What's the cancellation policy?
More than 14 days' notice: full deposit refund, or move the date free. 7–14 days: 50% of the deposit retained, or move the date for a £50 admin fee. Under 7 days: deposit non-refundable, but we'll do our best to find another date. We're reasonable about genuine emergencies — illness, bereavement, last-minute talent dropouts. Just talk to us.
Can we extend on the day if the shoot overruns?
If the diary allows, yes — £35 per extra hour, billed on the day. We'll always tell you 30 minutes before your slot ends if there's a booking after you, so you can plan the final hour properly rather than rushing the hero shot.
Do you supply talent, models or stylists?
Not directly — but we work regularly with model agencies and freelance stylists, hair and makeup artists across Leeds, Bradford and Harrogate, and we're happy to make introductions. Send the brief and we'll point you at the right people.
Is the studio suitable for video as well as stills?
Yes. The cyc, continuous Godox lighting, Zoom F6 audio and dampened room acoustics are all set up with video in mind. We shoot client video here ourselves every week, so the workflow is proven, not theoretical.
Can our client attend the shoot?
Please do bring them — the seating area and live tether monitor exist precisely so decision-makers can approve frames on the day. Shoots with the client in the room finish with sign-off, not a feedback round.