So when lighting designer Philip Lyons of Lyons Photography & Lighting Design Installation was appointed to install a pack generator system into two of the museum's new photographic studios, he brought Doughty Engineering on board. Having worked with the company on various other photographic studio installations, Philip knew he could count on Doughty to supply a range of equipment that would ensure the studio was kitted out to the highest specification, making it the perfect environment for photographing and cataloguing the museum's wonderful and ever increasing catalogue of exhibits.
Having completed a prestigious NHS project with Doughty earlier this year, Philip explained, "I wouldn't consider working with anyone other than Doughty on a job like this. All the jobs I work on are bespoke designs to suit specific customer needs. Doughty's customer service is second to none and it takes only a phone call to get modifications made in order to provide a totally bespoke solution."
Doughty's Laurence Dyer said, "Working with Philip we know the project is tailored specifically to the client, which is always interesting. Following a discussion with him about what the museum's brief entailed, we supplied two pairs of Studio Rail 60 runways which made up a rolling grid. On each of these are three more lengths of Studio Rail 60 mounted on double swivel carriages so they roll up and down the runways."
On each of the six rolling bars, Philip installed a Doughty lightweight pantograph mounted to a braked carriage so they can move easily along the rails. Philip notes, "Each pantograph is fitted with one light that gives 3k of power - equivalent to the sun. We have six of these on a 6m long rig in a studio which measures just 7.5m wide!"
Studio Rail is a neat and inexpensive track for smaller studios. The extruded aluminium rail system is equipped with sliding carriages. For most suspension methods, the safe working load is 100kg and carriages are designed to support a variety of fittings, typically luminaires and curtains/drapes. Doughty's Studio Rail is maintenance free, other than regular load tests, and the kits contain all the parts required for assembly with the exception of suspension brackets, which should be ordered separately to suit the type of installation.
Laurence adds, "Studio Rail 60 works perfectly for installations such as this, since the smooth operation and configuration of the grid allows the museum to hang a light in almost any position in the room, making it easy to capture images from every angle imaginable. It really is a very versatile system."
(Jim Evans)
