Rangefinder Magazine
July 2005

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Lab Profile by Lou Jacobs Jr.
Miller’s Professional Imaging

In 1939 Bill Miller opened a photography studio in Pittsburg, Kansas, and in 1945, after serving as a frontline combat photographer in World War II, he returned home. By 1964 he had started his own processing lab above his studio where he served his own clientele plus two other photographers’. Bill’s business prospered, and in 1968 he built a new studio and lab where the Miller’s Professional Imaging corporate offices are still located.

In the years following, the lab became a successful family business, and son, Richard Miller, son-in-law, Dick Coleman, and grandson, Todd Coleman, joined the company. Richard is now chairman of the board and is widely recognized as a guru in the industry. Dick is vice president of Miller’s Corporate and Todd is president of Miller’s Professional Imaging.

By the year 2000 the lab in Pittsburg was at capacity for production, and the labor market was practically tapped out. The company built a second facility in Columbia, Missouri, which opened in 2001. “The swift evolution of digital photography prompted Miller’s to respond to the marketplace with a new lab,” Dick Coleman says. “We had a 10-year plan in mind, but the migration to digital was an 18-month phenomenon, and fortunately we were prepared.” The goal of the Columbia facility was to offload some of the digital workload from Pittsburg to encourage new film customers at the larger lab.

Having attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, Richard was familiar with the city and knew it shared a Midwest work ethic with Pittsburg. A new facility was imperative for the company’s growth.
Today, Miller’s Professional Imaging is the largest lab of its kind in the U.S. and serves professional photographers for all of their optical and digital needs. The Pittsburg facility supports traditional film capture with services and products for wedding and portrait photographers. The Pittsburg lab has a sizeable digital retouching/art capability and state-of-the-art digital printing capability for digitally retouched film orders. Digital photographers enjoy the ease and functionality of Miller’s proprietary ordering software and online ordering services, most of which are output from the Columbia lab.

The Miller’s Pittsburg lab covers 80,000 square feet and has expanded 10 times since 1968. Two hundred and fifty employees keep it running smoothly, while 120 more work at the Columbia lab, which occupies 40,000 square feet. The company continually seeks new ways to be flexible, offering a diversity of products and services to a wide clientele. Miller’s partners with other software vendors such as Kodak ProShots, Fujifilm Studiomaster Pro, Labprints, ASPN, Zookbinders and Performer. Miller’s also offers web hosting, album-design software and assembled albums, as well as sponsoring a children’s portrait contest.

A new division, Mpix, was launched in 2003 as a digital online imaging lab for both professionals and advanced amateurs, though film services were soon added. Mpix services are available without an acceptance process to any photographer with a credit card. This division offers a full list of Kodak Endura papers, professional color management, availability of large prints and 24-hour turnaround. These offerings are somewhat limited compared to those of Miller’s Professional Imaging, but online ordering, professional-quality prints and a diversity of services, including frames and proof portfolios, have become appealing to a rapidly growing number of Mpix customers.

“Our intense focus on quality,” says Richard Miller, “is evidenced by our industry-leading 250 Kodak Gallery Awards. These prestigious honors are bestowed on professional photographers and labs for award-winning prints in several competitive categories,” The company has also developed a good neighbor reputation in both the Pittsburg and Columbia communities, often working behind the scenes in local activities and for non-profit organizations. Richard observes, “Our family name has been on our work for three generations. Our extraordinary service is a result of many things, including listening carefully to our customers and responding to their changing needs.”

For more information, contact Miller's at (800) 376-6121.

Lou Jacobs Jr. is the author of 28 how-to photography books, the latest of which is Studio Lighting (Amherst Media). He has taught at UCLA and Brooks, and his photographs and stories have been published in numerous magazines. He is a longtime member of ASMP and enjoys shooting stock during his travels in the U.S. and abroad, which is leased through several agencies.