I have been working toward establishing “Calamity Jane’s Old Time Photography”, specializing in on-location Tintypes. After an investment of about $3,000 (not including my labour or homemade equipment) I have the photographic part pretty much were I want it and can turn out presentable Tintypes reliably enough to make a profit (eventually). My target markets are Cowboy Action Shooters (a sport where everyone dresses in Old West attire and shoots “stages” that are like scenes from a western movie) and attendees at some of the larger agricultural fairs and “pioneer days” events around Manitoba, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
With my target market in mind, I decided that my best presentation would be a marquis style tent which would contain a set for shooting under cover (when the weather is bad), complete with a bank of artificial lights (for when the sun doesn’t cooperate), and to shelter my portable darkroom. It would also provide shelter for a display of “stock photos” of the local event which would be for sale at a slightly lower price than custom portraits. (I have camping facilities separate from the photographer’s tent .)
I have completed and tested the artificial lighting and the portable darkroom and have just about finished a “processing cart” complete with lockable drawers to keep supplies in. I have signs being made to put up at various locations around the grounds to point people to my tent and a 10 foot banner to put up over the tent. With my best opportunity to generate some income in 2005 being a major agricultural fair at the end of July, I started looking for a tent a couple of weeks ago.
A new marquis tent of sufficient size (15 feet square, minimum) is about $1,300 Canadian - there don’t seem to be any used tents of this style available - and apparently nobody stocks such tents - they are made to order. Rental tents are so expensive as to make renting a tent for two weeks almost on par with buying a tent!
In my search for a marquis tent (also know as “pole tents”) I looked at some “party tents”, the kind used for family gatherings, weddings, etc. and I discovered a 10x20 foot “party tent” available from a surplus dealer for $200 Canadian (almost $280 with shipping). The style is more “1950's schlock” that “1880's class act” but, for $200 I figured I would give it a try (maybe replacing it with a marquis tent next winter).
The tent arrived Wednesday and I put it up in the back yard on Friday - the objective was to do a full set-up, test everything out, and make sure everything was going to work right when I am hours away from home for 2 weeks at at time.
Well, the tent was about what I would expect for $200. The “canvas” is the same material as a “poly tarp”, a woven plastic, though nicely coloured. The frame seemed pretty good, though the doors (a large door at the front and smaller door at the back) did not have zippers but only Velcro to hold them closed. The tie-down rings, 4 along each eave, were small nylon D-rings attached to the poly covering with a small sewn strip of fabric - not very solid, in my opinion - and the skirts were provided with eyelets about every 2 feet. The tent did not come with “substantial” pegs, just pieces of bent wire which would pull out of the ground easier than they pressed in, so I borrowed some proper pegs from my camping tent to secure the main tie-downs and to peg the 4 corners of the tent. I put the tent up in a breeze and I found that the roof of the tent acted like a para-sail when the wind got under it and generated so much lift that I had my doubts about the ability of the eight D-rings to hold the tent down.
Fortunately I had not started setting up the interior of the tent because last night we had some pretty good thunderstorms - typical prairie weather - and I would have lost anything that was in the tent!
The gusty wind apparently blew the small Velcro door open, which let the wind blow into the tent. Once the wind got under the roof, the lift was too much for the two D-rings on the upwind corner and they pulled loose. Once the upwind corner started to lift, the wind got under the whole tent and flipped it up on the opposite corner, pulling the rest of the tie-downs loose. A cable strung across my yard caught the tent and stopped it from cartwheeling across the field but also “broke its back”. Though the five “canvas” pieces are in fairly good shape, except for a few torn-out grommets, the frame is pretty much toast. About 1/2 of the frame members survived, a half dozen are repairable, and five are beyond repair. The cost of making new frame members would exceed the cost of the tent and take time I don’t have to spare.
So, with only 3 weeks until my first major gig, I have to decide what to do and I have to decide QUICKLY! (I have a second gig 1 Sept that might generate some income.)
Option #1 - Buy another 10x20 “party tent” (if the surplus dealer has any more)
If I buy another cheap party tent, MAYBE I could secure it against strong winds by throwing ropes over top and securing them to substantial pegs. That would not address the problem of the door(s) blowing open in a strong wind and the wind/rain damaging my set and my display inside.
Option #2 - Spring the big bucks and buy a proper marquis tent (which is what I want to end up with eventually anyway).
The difficulty here might be in delivery time. I talked to a tent maker last week who felt that they could make my departure date of 18 July but that was last week.
I don’t know yet if there is going to be enough money in Tintypes to cover my expenses and certainly investing in a $1300 tent will move the “breakeven date” much further into the future and would be, by far, the biggest investment I have made in my business. On the other hand, a nice marquis tent will make a very professional setting and may attract additional tire-kickers, some of whom might buy plates or pay for a sitting.
For those of you in business, I’d really like to hear your thoughts on “minimizing costs” versus “best presentation” and how comfortable/uncomfortable you feel about investing on speculation, in an unknown market.
Sorry for being long-winded but I wanted to paint the picture in enough detail that you could understand where I’m coming from.
Thanks for “listening”!
Busted Tent C.J.
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