Journal

14 October 2026

Piața Centrală between 6:40 and 7:30

The best softbox in Chișinău is a stained canvas awning over the vegetable rows, and it works for about fifty minutes a day.

When a food magazine asked us for twelve pages on October produce, the obvious plan was to buy everything and shoot it in Hall B. We did a test morning at the market instead, and the pictures from that test were better than anything we would have built.

Why the first hour works

In mid-October the sun rises a little after 7:00 and comes in low from the east, under the edge of the awnings on the vegetable side. The canvas above catches the bounce and glows, and the stalls sit in a warm, wrapped light with the shadows filled from above. Once the sun climbs past the awning line, around 7:40, the light goes hard on the aisle floor and flat under the canvas.

How we planned it

Three mornings, arriving at 6:30, no lamps and no reflectors. One photographer with a 50 mm and a 35 mm, one writer. We picked the stalls the evening before by walking the market at closing time and asking who would be there early.

We gave every vendor prints a week later. That mattered more than we expected: on the third morning people were waving us over to their stalls.

What we would change

Bring a thermos. At 6:30 in October it is four degrees, and you cannot hold a camera steady with numb hands.

22 September 2026

Twelve degrees and 90 percent humidity

Carry a camera from a 26-degree September afternoon into a wine cellar and every glass surface fogs within seconds.

On the Cricova job we lost the first forty minutes to it. Wiping a lens only spreads the water; it keeps coming back until the glass reaches the temperature of the air around it.

What works

Take the kit down the evening before, still sealed in its cases with silica packs inside, and leave it there overnight. Open the cases in the morning and the lenses are already at cellar temperature. If you cannot do that, seal each lens in a zip bag before going down and wait at least an hour before opening it.

Batteries drain faster at twelve degrees. We ran two more per camera than on a studio day and kept the spares in an inside pocket.

Sound

Stone vaults ring. We hung moving blankets on stands just out of frame for the dialogue scenes, which took the echo down enough to keep the voices clean while leaving the room tone that tells you where you are.

30 August 2026

A calendar for the Hall B windows

Clients used to book Hall B by the day and then wonder why the light in the morning looked nothing like the portfolio.

The three windows face south-west, so the room is soft and even until early afternoon and then the sun walks in across the parquet. Most of our portfolio is made in that second part. Irina kept a log for a full year, photographing the floor at the same spot every hour, and we turned it into a table we send with every quote.

Roughly, by season

June and July: sun on the floor from 15:30 to 19:00, too strong at first, so we hang linen until about 17:00. September and October: 14:00 to 16:50, the best months for direct sun on skin. December: a short, low patch from 12:30 to 15:40, warm and very directional. March: 13:30 to 17:30, often with cloud, which gives a lovely soft day if you are flexible.

What this changes

Hall B is now booked in four-hour blocks, with the start time suggested by the calendar. A portrait client in October gets 13:00 to 17:00. It sounds fussy, and it has saved more retakes than any piece of kit we own.

11 July 2026

Filming on a city boulevard, legally

A handheld camera on the pavement rarely needs paperwork. A crew, a dolly track or a closed lane always does.

For the festival trailer we wanted Ștefan cel Mare boulevard nearly empty, which in practice means a Sunday between 7:00 and 8:00 and a request to the municipality for the use of public space.

What to file and when

We apply to the Chișinău City Hall with a written request, a site plan showing where the crew and vehicles will stand, and the times. Leave at least ten working days. If any part of the road is affected, traffic police need to agree too, and that adds a few days. Filming near government buildings on the boulevard needs separate agreement from their security services, which we ask for in the same week.

What we tell clients

Budget two weeks from the brief to the first street day, and plan a dry alternative. Permits are issued for a date, and moving them because of rain means filing again.

For quick shoots with one camera and no stands we still carry a letter from the client on headed paper explaining what we are filming. Nobody has ever asked for it, and that is because we carry it.