Most studio bookings that go wrong go wrong in the first hour. The floor is smaller than it looked in the photographs, the light you assumed was included is extra, the power will not take your kit, or the air conditioning is so loud the interview has to be re-recorded.

Every one of those can be found out with a message before you book. Here is what to ask.

The space

1. Floor size — and shooting distance. The number that matters is not the room’s area but how far the camera can get from the subject while keeping the background in frame. A full-length fashion shot on a longer lens needs far more depth than a tabletop product. Send your frame and lens; ask whether it fits.

2. Ceiling height. It decides whether lights can go overhead, whether a tall subject can be shot from a low angle without the ceiling in frame, and whether a boom microphone fits above standing talent.

3. The backdrop. Is there a cyclorama or infinity cove, seamless paper, a chroma screen? What colours, what widths? If the job needs a clean white floor in frame, a paper roll on a wall is not the same as a cove. (Our guide to cyclorama and chroma covers which you need.)

The kit

4. What lighting and grip is included in the rate — and what is itemised. Continuous LED or strobe? Modifiers — softboxes, umbrellas, grids? C-stands, flags, reflectors, sandbags? “Lighting available” can mean anything from a full kit to two lamps in a cupboard.

5. Power. How many circuits, and can they take your heaviest lights running together? Where are the sockets? A studio that trips when two big lights come on costs you the morning.

6. Tethering and client viewing. Is there a monitor and a station where the client can watch frames arrive, rather than crowding behind the photographer?

The conditions

7. Sound, if you are recording video. Listen for air conditioning, fans, traffic, a lift shaft, a neighbour’s generator. None of these are obvious until you put on headphones, and all of them ruin interviews.

8. Light control. Can daylight be blacked out? Mixed daylight and studio light changes colour through the day and makes a consistent catalogue impossible.

9. Changing, hair and makeup. A changing area with a mirror, power for tools, and somewhere talent can wait without walking through the set.

The booking

10. What counts as your hours. Does setup and strike come out of your booking? Is there a minimum booking — two hours, four, a full day? What does overtime cost, and is it charged by the hour or the half-day?

11. Load-in and parking. Where can a vehicle stop to unload heavy cases? Is there a lift? A difficult load-in can eat the first forty minutes of a short booking.

12. Damage and wear. Who pays if the cove needs repainting after a shoot with shoes, props or paint on it? Is there a deposit? Better to know before than to argue after.

Bonus: people

Is someone from the studio on site who knows where everything is? Can you add a photographer, a camera operator or a gaffer to the booking if your own crew is short? A studio that can fill a gap in your team on the day is worth more than one with a slightly larger floor.

A message to send before you book

Shooting [what] for [how long]. Frame: [full length / waist up / tabletop], [number] people in shot, [static / moving]. Need: [cove / paper / chroma], [lighting you need]. Bringing: [your kit]. Arriving by [vehicle] at [time]. Can the floor take this, and what is included in the rate?

Any studio worth booking will give you a straight yes or no.

Where we fit

Our photo studio rental in Bhubaneswar is in Patia, with a lit cyclorama, lighting and grip included in the rate, and the floor set up before your call time. The same space runs as a video shoot studio rental and as a podcast recording studio in Bhubaneswar, and the podcast side is covered in depth in recording a video podcast people actually finish.

Renting a photo studio? Twelve things to check before you book