Our commercial photography customers have the option of utilizing a private gallery to review their proofs online. This can dramatically improve the turn around time on a project. When we complete one or more images (depending on the specific project and your needs) we will upload the image set to your private gallery so that you can immediately review them. You simply log into your private gallery on our web site and look through the images. This facility allows you to give us instant feedback on the images and any changes you would like to see in composition, lighting, or camera angle, etc.
Each private gallery has a unique password and login ID to ensure that only you (and our staff, of course) can view the images in your private gallery. We encrypt both the Login ID and the password in our database and utilize encrypted secure communications when you login. The login ID and password are established at the time we create the private directory and are unique to each private gallery.
The private galleries work very well when you must be in your office while we are producing your images. Once we have something to review, we can both log into your private gallery to review each image while discussing them over the phone. This minimizes the time you must spend in our studios, yet still gives you very fast feedback opportunities from the comfort of your office.
Once we've agreed to undertake your photography task the process generally has a fairly straight forward path. We first get as much detail as possible regarding what is requied to be in the photograph (or what must be omitted), the message you wish to convey, they lighitng requirements, and any other details that are relevant to your project.
If we are taking digital images then the proess is somewhat simplified. We typically take a series of iaages for your review. If you are in our studios you can view the images on our color calibrated computer equipment. You can also view the images via a private gallery on our web site if you need to stay at the office. Either way, we'll take your feedback, plan any necessary changes to the lighting, composition, or mood of the imges, and take another series of images. We continue in that mode until you are satisfied with your images. At that time we'll produce a master CD containing your images and have that delivered according to your instructions.
If the images must be done in film, then the process is similar, except that the review process may take longer since time must be alotted for film development and getting you and the images together in the same room so that you can provide any necessary guidance. We may, at your request, scan the returned film and place the resulting images in your private gallery for your review. In some cases this can speed up the review process - especially if the proofs would need to be sent a long distance.
A common governing factor for completion of an imaage is your publication or client's deadline. It is not unusual for a deadline to be only a few days away, yet the task would normally require several weeks of planning. We're not miracle workers, but times like these require us to put in extra effort and do our best creative thinking to complete your images on time.
If you need a picture of your product on a kitchen counter, against a white backdrop, or being consumed by a model relaxing by the pool, we can accommodate that fairly quickly. If you'd like a picture of a model running with the bulls in Barcelona taken from a platform fifty feet in the air - well, that's going to take a little planning - so the more details the better.
Large Format Cameras
We utilize numerous cameras to give you maximum flexibility when it comes to image composition, clarity, and publication. Our main studio camera is a Sinar P2 large format camera. This is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to studio cameras. We also use an excellent Wisner 4x5 large format field camera for some location photography. This has proven to be a very flexible and reliable camera for field work.
Medium Format Cameras
We utilize Hasselblad medium format cameras exclusively. The quality and reliability of these cameras is legendary. The specific model we use is the Hasselblad 203 FE. This 6x6 format camera, and the associated Hasselblad lenses, yield absolutely stunning images.
35 mm Cameras
We have several Nikon 35 mm cameras, including a D-100 digital SLR, an F-100 and an F5. These are all professional quality cameras designed for use by professional photographers.
Lighting
Our primary lighting system is strobe lighting manufactured by Speedotron, arguably the world leader in professional lighting equipment. We use both power pack systems and mono lights manufactured by Speedotron. These powerful yet fully adjustable lights, together with a host of light modifiers and control mechanisms (soft boxes, umbrellas, diffusion panels, flags, reflectors, etc.) give us the ability to place just the right amount of light in the right locations to produce a perfectly lit image.
We also have a variety of halogen continuous light sources that are beneficial for some images, especially images that require a long exposure time.
Studio Equipment
Our studio equipment consists of shooting tables, shooting cocoons, studio camera stands (very large, heavy and stable stands to hold the camera perfectly still at any location or angle), remote controlled house lights, posing tables, posing stools, paper backgrounds, large muslin backdrops, numerous light stands, booms, and various grip and mounting equipment. We also have an abundance of the little things that seem to matter most when taking professional images. These items include, but are not limited to, tape, straight pins, safety pins, clothes pins, construction paper, mat board, cardboard, wire, glue, dental floss and anything else that might be required to hold part of a set in the desired position for the duration of a photo session.
Computer Equipment
All of our computer equipment is regularly color calibrated to ensure consistent color reproduction across each step of the image capture and production processes. We utilize large and powerful Intel based machines to enable us to handle extremely large images and large volume processing tasks. When image capture is done on film, we can utilize our professional scanners made by Nikon (Coolscan 8000) and Epson (4870) to produce digital versions of any film size up to 5"x7". All images are previewed, and where requested, processed on large 21" color calibrated monitors. If prints are required, we can produce professional prints in-house on our Epson 9600 wide format printer, capable of producing outstanding images that are 44" wide by up to 60 feet in length. These wide format printers by Epson are the best professional printers in the world and produce prints that are much better than the prints produced by most commercial photo labs (incidentally, we use this same printer to produce our outstanding fine art prints and it produces prints that are absolutely drop dead gorgeous; people who view our prints for the first time are simply stunned by the clarity, color, and quality of these prints). We of course use Adobe Photoshop (currently CS2) for all of our image editing needs.