FOCUS OREGON - V1 Issue 2

Cobalt Studios
PDX
the lights. There are lots of lights available for
use as well as triggers and modifiers and gels
of all sorts. Or you can bring your own gear if
you’d prefer or use natural light. There is always
someone on-hand during rental hours (and the
rental hours are almost around the clock) and at
the end of your session they clean up after you!
Not many rental studios give you that level of
service!
Coming most recently from a background in
advertising and public relations, Bill cut his
teeth on photojournalism in the SF Bay area
in the 80s. His first love is and always will be
black and white storytelling photojournalism.
Bill’s eyes sparkled as he regaled us with stories
of his salad days in San Francisco shooting for
the AP and San Jose Mercury News, among
other news outlets. He sequed from that
into marketing/PR/advertising and spent the
majority of his work life doing that until he sold
his business in 2017. He said he woke up on
December 27th, 2017 and said to his wife “I
want to build a rental photography studio in
Portland.” And thus, Cobalt was born. Bill and Tammy like to give back to the photography
industry as well and open their studio at no charge to nonprofit photography organizations
like OPPA and local meetup groups and camera clubs. They are giving us the studio for two
full days in November to host our Luminate event at no charge!
At the end of our tour, Enkay 47, a hip hop artist from Salem, came in for his publicity session.
It was fun to talk with him and learn about his music and his plans for the future. And as a good
host should, Bill and Tammy began getting things set up for the upcoming shoot. We said our
goodbyes and walked out into the blinding sun and promise of a beautiful Saturday, excited
about all the possibilities before us, both individually and for OPPA, now that we know we
have a resource like Cobalt Studios PDX right in our own backyard.
As a vendor partner, Bill is offering OPPA members a discount code for a free hour of rental
at Cobalt Studios PDX. Watch your OPPA email for that code and specific details on how to
use it.
12 • FOCUS OREGON
Cobalt Studios PDX is located at
1030 SE Clinton St, Portland, OR 97202