Autumn sittings The parlor works in four-week cycles — a few October plate dates are still open. Ask for a date
Opal Parlor Portrait & Plate Studio
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A small north-light room

Sit still. The light will do the rest.

Opal Parlor makes portraits slowly — one window, one sitter at a time, on 35mm film and digital medium format, finished as prints you can hold rather than files you forget.

Request a sitting See the plate index
North window only 35mm & medium format Hand-finished prints Sittings Tue–Sat
Portrait of a woman turned toward a window, soft daylight across one side of her face
01Single sitting · digital medium format
Black and white portrait of a man in a plain shirt looking directly at the camera
02Single sitting · 35mm film
Portrait of a man in a dark jacket photographed in low even daylight
03Commission · author jacket plate

The Parlor

One room, one window, no hurry.

We work in plates,
not packages.

The parlor is a first-floor room with a single north window, a worn velvet chair and a long table. Nothing flashes. Light is shaped with a bedsheet scrim, a silver board and the shutters, which means every sitting looks like the hour it happened in.

Two cameras stay loaded: a 35mm rangefinder for the loose frames people end up keeping, and a digital medium-format body for the plates that need to hold a 20-inch print. You will usually leave with both.

Sittings are booked in four-week cycles so that printing never queues behind shooting. Film is developed in-house on Mondays, proofs are sequenced as a contact sheet, and chosen plates are printed on cotton rag and signed on the reverse.

No packages, no upsell at the end of the session. You choose plates from the proof sheet once you have lived with them for a few days.

Sittings

Four ways to use the room.

Each sitting is a block of studio time with a stated outcome. If you are unsure which fits, describe who is sitting in the enquiry and a suggestion comes back with the open dates.

01

Portrait Sitting

Ninety minutes for one person, including the twenty minutes it takes to stop performing.

Best for
Work portraits, a birthday that ends in a zero, musicians and writers who need one good frame for the next five years.
What you leave with
  • Twelve edited plates, colour and monochrome
  • One 8×10 hand print, signed on the reverse
  • Two wardrobe changes inside the sitting

02

Family Plates

Sixty minutes for two to six people, shot in short bursts rather than one long siege.

Best for
Grandparents and grandchildren in the same frame, siblings before one of them moves away, a household that has changed shape.
What you leave with
  • Eighteen edited plates: the group, then pairs
  • One 10×8 hand print of the chosen group plate
  • Morning slots held for babies and toddlers

03

Still Life & Maker

Two hours on the long table for objects, and for the hands that made them.

Best for
Ceramics, jewellery, small-batch food and bound books that need honest texture instead of glossy catalogue lighting.
What you leave with
  • Ten plates on warm white and mid grey
  • Square and 4:5 crops prepared for listings
  • Two in-progress frames of the work being made

04

Editorial Commission

Half or full day, in the parlor or on location, briefed by an editor or studio.

Best for
Features, author jackets, annual reports and lookbooks where a named sitter and a deadline both exist.
What you leave with
  • Full contact sheet delivered the same evening
  • Agreed usage licence, written before the shoot
  • Retouched selects within two working days

Plate Index

A page from the sitting log.

Plates are numbered in the order they were made. Captions note the sitter’s first name, the camera and where the light came from.

Close portrait of a freckled woman with loose hair, lit from the side by window light
07Hollis · 35mm · north window, shutters half closed
Portrait of a laughing woman mid-movement against a plain pale wall
11Marisol · digital · scrim and silver board
Seated portrait of a woman in a light coat, hands resting in her lap
14Edith · 35mm · late afternoon, velvet chair
Studio portrait of a man in a collared shirt, even light across both cheeks
19Tobias · digital · author jacket plate
Portrait of a man looking past the camera, shadow falling across the background wall
23Ren · 35mm · shutters open, no scrim

How a sitting runs

Four stages, start to print.

01

Enquiry

Tell the parlor who is sitting and roughly which month. A reply comes back with the open dates in that cycle and which sitting suits.

02

The light note

A week before, you get a short note: which hour your date is booked for, what the window is doing then, and two or three wardrobe suggestions.

03

The sitting

Tea first, camera second. Frames go up on the screen as we work, so nothing is a surprise and you can ask for another pass.

04

Proofs & printing

A sequenced contact sheet arrives within seven days. Choose your plates when you are ready; hand prints follow two to three weeks later.

Before you sit

The questions that come up most.

What should I wear?
Plain weaves in mid tones photograph best — they hold shape without drawing the eye away from your face. Avoid tight stripes, small checks and logos, which fight the grain on film. Bring two options and a third layer; sleeves change a portrait more than people expect.
How long will I actually be in the room?
A portrait sitting is ninety minutes and families are sixty, but allow an extra twenty either side. The first twenty minutes are usually spent getting past the camera, and that time is built into the block rather than charged on top.
Is the sitting on film or digital?
Both, in the same session. The 35mm rangefinder catches the loose, in-between frames; the digital body covers the plates that need to survive a large print. Film is developed in-house on Mondays, so film plates reach you a few days after the digital ones.
When do I see the pictures, and when do prints arrive?
A sequenced contact sheet is sent within seven days of the sitting. Once you have chosen, edited plates are delivered as high-resolution files, and hand prints are made, dried and signed over the following two to three weeks.
Can babies and small children sit?
Yes, and mornings suit them best — the window is softest before noon and children are at their most willing. These sittings are shot in short bursts with breaks, and nobody is asked to hold a pose. Bring a snack and a familiar toy.
Do I receive the original files?
You receive every chosen plate as a full-resolution file, suitable for printing elsewhere, with a smaller set sized for screens. Unselected frames and raw negatives stay in the studio archive, where they are kept for five years in case you want to return to the sheet.
How much retouching is included?
A light hand: dust, sensor marks, a stray hair, a temporary blemish. Skin texture, lines and shape are left alone. If a commission needs more than that, it is agreed in writing before the shoot rather than decided afterwards.

Request a sitting

Tell the parlor who is sitting.

Five fields is enough to hold a date. A reply comes back with the open slots in that cycle, the suggested sitting and what it includes.

No deposit is taken at enquiry. The date is only held once you have seen the dates and confirmed one.

Studio days
Sittings Tuesday to Saturday. Mondays are development and printing days, so the room is closed.
Reply time
Enquiries are answered within two working days, in the order they arrive.
Booking cycles
Dates are released four weeks at a time. If your month is full, you are offered the first slots in the next cycle.
On location
Commissions can be shot away from the parlor where the light allows. Say so in your note and it will be discussed before a date is held.