New Office for a New Year!

I’m really excited to be starting the new year in a new office! Custom deigned to my specification and to suit the type of work I am undertaking, allowing a combination of office work, equipment prep and testing, some mild editing and colour grading. Let’s take a look at what I’ve got!

The first starting point was working out how to use the space. The space is just shy of 1.9 meters by 3.4 meters. A decent size space for a single person work area however I wanted it to be able to accommodate an additional collaborator from time to time and offer space for equipment storage that didn’t look too unsightly!

After testing various mock ups on the use of space, mainly working around my requirement for a large sit/stand desk which was purchased new for this space, along with my current shelving for equipment storage, I decided to place the desk at the far end of the office. Doing this meant I could get a desk which filled the complete width of the space without feeling overbearing in the space. This then allowed me to place the shelving unit at the far side of the room along with a small cupboard to hold office essentials such as paper, tape, hard drives etc. with the printer placed on top.

Making the space suitable for the work I do I wanted to have something that was light and airy for the times I’m doing office work, such as writing emails, sorting accounts and invoices etc. Then when I’m prepping kit I wanted to ensure I had enough usable floor space to setup tripods, lights, enough sockets to put batteries on charge too. Finally I use the apace to do some mild editing and colour grading work, I wanted to make use of a large monitor specially for this work and ensure the environment I was in was ideal for making critical colour decisions.

Let’s go through each of these requirements in reverse!

Editing & Colour Grading

While probably the least this space is used for, I wanted to create an environment which leant itself to this. Previously, my offices had been spare rooms or conservatories where trying to control light in the space was tricky so I wanted to get this under control in my bespoke office!

Firstly, most professional colour grading environments are painted a dark and neutral shade of grey, usually 18% grey. I was keen to emulate this, to provide a non-biased colour environment for making critical colour decisions. I decided to take my grey card to B&Q and get a match to 18% grey (N5). While the optimum choice, it felt a little dark for everyday use so opted for a slightly lighter shade of grey at (N8), providing that dark and neutral colour but without being overbearing.

Next is lighting, for professional colour grading environments, lighting to match the monitor is ideal, so choosing a 6500K balanced light provides a non-biased set-up. I opted for 3 recessed down-lights which are dim-able, allowing me to control the amount of light I’m working in depending on what I’m doing. I also picked up a 6500K desk lamp (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases), allowing me to have a little light in my working area if I decided to turn the overhead lights off.

To control the natural light coming from the large window and door window I opted for dark grey blackout blinds from Dunelm. These are brilliant for creating a really dark environment even when the sun is shining outside!

From an audio perspective, the room was quite reverberant and need some acoustic treatment to control those audible reflections! I decided to opt for the Audio Silk 116cm x 58cm mid grey acoustic 4 panel room kit (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases). These have been great at reducing the reverb in the room and match well into the aesthetic of the space. After some testing it was clear that the high ceiling was causing much of the trouble, so placing two panels on the ceiling, along with two either side of the desk, as advised by Audio Silk, seemed to control the sound pretty well!

Office Work

A sit stand desk was the key for me to tackle long days writing emails, doing shoot prep and office admin! I also wanted to create a space where I could embrace the natural light coming into the room, so in addition to the black out blinds, ideal for grading, I also installed a Venetian blind from Dunelm over the window to allow me to control the natural light coming into the room.

I also wanted to add a pop of colour in the space, opting to showcase some of my own landscape photography artwork and a lovely piece by one of my favourite photographers James Bell.

Finally, practically, I needed some storage and didn’t have masses of space for this if my desk wasn’t to have any integrated storage. Ideally I needed some draws for smaller items along with a cupboard for box files and larger items. I managed to track down a lovely black cabinet with wheels from The Range which fitted the bill! And also let me store my printer on top too!

Kit Storage & Prep

In my old office, space was a big problem as there wasn’t much of it! Meaning kit prep usually took over the room! While the size of the space is the size, with the layout I’ve managed to create an area to setup cameras, tripods and lights which still allows me to make use of the desk while Im working.

A big consideration was power, as with any kit prep comes a large amount of battery charging! I opted to go with the majority of my power outlets desk level, for easy access while working. I also decided to have all outlets with integrated USB A sockets, this is great when you’ve just got a battery brick or mirrorless camera batteries to charge.

For storage I’ve managed to make use of a basic steel shelving unit which I’ve had for some time, while it doesn’t look amazing it is very functional and lightweight and can store a large amount of equipment!

Desk Setup

At the heart of the office is my desk setup!

The centre piece is the desk! A wonderful 180cm x 80cm sit / stand desk by Flamaker (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases). Its really study and versatile with electronic height adjustment. I spend most morning’s stood working which is great. Ive got a brilliant chair by Naspaluro (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases) which is super comfortable, lightweight and offers lots of adjustment for long days sat down!

On my desk, I make use of my Apple MacBook Pro 2020 model. This connects to two monitors, firstly an older Samsung 32″ LED TV which is wall mounted. I’d like to upgrade this to a UHD model soon however its the perfect size for the distance I’m sat from it for writing emails and also doing editing/colouring work. I’ve installed some bias lighting (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases) behind the monitor which I am finding useful for both colour grading and editing work along with office tasks too. Secondly I’m using a 27″ Dell U2720Q UltraSharp UHD monitor (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases), this provides power to my MacBook Pro along with acting as a hub too! I’ve deiced to mount this in a portrait orientation which is great for lists and for displaying this more suited to the vertical orientation.

For sound I make use of a Macki Onyx Artist 1-2 USB audio interface (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases), this is hooked up to Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases) and my Generic 8020B (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases) Desktop Monitors which are incredible. These are stand mounted to get the optimum position for listening and also move up and down with the desk!

Finally I’ve got my 6500K daylight balanced desk lamp (Amazon link, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases) and iPad for general office tasks!