HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudio 101 West BidMarch 19, 2025
City of San Luis Obispo
On-Call Video Production and Photography
Letter of Interest
We are respectfully submitting a response to city’s RFQ for on-call video production and/or
photography services.
We Are:
Studio 101 West
9205 Mountain View Dr.
Atascadero, CA 93422
805-460-6300
dennis@studio101west.com
Studio 101 West has been a Photography and Graphic Design firm in San Luis Obispo county for
over 35 years. We are a small reliable studio that has stood the test of time. We specialize in
commercial photography, business portraits, and drone photography and video.
Availability
While we do have busy seasons, with enough notice we have the availability to meet most on-
call requests.
If selected, we understand that we will be expected to be on contract with the city for on-call
services as we have in the past.
The contact for this submittal is:
Dennis Swanson, Owner/Photographer
Studio 101 West Photography
9205 Mountain View Dr.
Atascadero, CA 93422
805-460-6300
dennis@studio101west.com
Relevant Experience of Key Personnel and the Firm
Key Personnel Experience
Dennis Swanson is our lead photographer and drone pilot. Besides his 35 years of full-time
experience running a photography studio, he holds a BA in commercial photography from
Brooks Institute and has been certified by the FAA to be a commercial drone pilot for the last
eight years.
Relevant Work Experience: Recent work for the City of San Luis Obispo includes photographing
and videotaping over 100 pieces of the city owned public art, and videotaping the 2024 SLO City
Homelessness Response Forum. In addition to creating headshots for most of the SLO Police
Department, we have also created portraits of the mayors of Atascadero and Paso Robles,
photographed events and headshots for the city of Atascadero, the Atascadero Chamber of
Commerce, and the Templeton Chamber of Commerce. Every year we create a large group
portrait of the entire senior class of Templeton High School for their yearbook. We also created
a group portrait of over 500 people for the City of Atascadero’s centennial celebration. Every
year we create dozens of business, and group portraits of city, business and community leaders.
The commercial side of our work has included producing drone photos and videos of dozens of
commercial building under construction and hundreds of photos of finished commercial
buildings throughout the county. We also recently produced a video of the grand opening
ceremony of the Emerald Ridge Apartments that included Mayor Moreno and many county
business and civic leaders.
Past and current clients include: The City San Luis Obispo, The City of Atascadero, the
Atascadero Chamber of Commerce, the Templeton Chamber of Commerce, Cal Poly
Foundation, French Hospital, Transitions Mental Health Association, the Housing Authority of
San Luis Obispo, Atascadero Main Street Association, J.W. Design & Construction, SDG
Architects, Garcia Architecture + Design, 2020 Creative Group, Mitsubishi Electric, Sunset
Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Getty Images, and Adobe Stock.
Studio 101 West’s staff includes Dennis and Deborah Swanson. We currently have no
employees but hire independent contractors when needed. We opened our studio in San Luis
Obispo in 1988 and moved it to, Atascadero in 2010.
Insurance
We carry a 2-million-dollar business liability policy in addition to insurance for our vehicles, and
an additional 1-million-dollar general personal liability policy. We have a current business
license for the city of San Luis Obispo.
Fee Structure
Hourly Rate for still photography is $150 per hour with a 2-hour minimum.
Image and video editing are $90 per hour.
Travel is 75¢ per mile.
Aerial/Drone photography and video work is $175 per hour with a 2-hour minimum.
Image and video editing are $90 per hour.
Acquiring FAA clearance for drone flights inside controlled airspace is $45 per day.
Many projects can be shot within our 2-hour minimum with 1-2 hours of editing time.
Longer, more involved video projects can range from $500-$900 per minute of finished video.
Client References
Dole Family Properties, Dirk Dole
Owner of Mr. Putters Putt Putt, Mr. Putters Boat House, Andy’s Arcade, Crystal Gold Mine,
Crystal Cave, Lemon Cove Campground, Meteor City, and Exeter RV Storage.
Services include architecture and lifestyle photos and videos, website design, and print design
and production. 2002 to present.
Dole Family Properties
805) 440-8475
1465 Ridge Road
Templeton CA 93465
JW Design & Construction, Chris Waterbury, CFO
805) 544-3130
3563 Sueldo Unit 1
San Luis Obispo CA 93401
cdw@jwdci.com
Services include photographing and video production of building projects throughout San Luis
Obispo and northern Santa Barbara Counties. 1990 to present.
Templeton High School, Krys Chivens, Teacher
805) 440-0255
Templeton High School
1200 Main St.
Templeton CA 93465
kchivens@templetonusd.org
Services include submitting of individual high school senior portraits and the class group
portrait for the school yearbook. 2010 to present
Tom O’Malley, former Mayor of Atascadero and owner of Portola Inn
805-440-7557
Portola Inn
6650 Portola Road
Atascadero CA 93422
tomomalley@charter.net
Services included photographing various city events, group portraits and headshots from 2008-
2020.
Additional Services
Graphic design department includes Deborah Swanson who has been a full-time graphic
designer in SLO county for over 30 years. She holds a BFA in Communication Design and
Illustration from Otis College of Art and Design. She specializes in logo, web, and print design
and production.
https://studio101westdesign.com