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Rangefinder
Magazine Romancing The
Pro: by Charmaine
Beleele
A few years ago I had the privilege of photographing a happy, healthy woman who had attained the age of 102. When I asked her if I could photograph her, she looked up at me with sharp blue eyes and asked me with a grin. “Is it Kodak?” Somewhat taken aback, but proud of my camera full of Portra Professional film, I assured her that it was Kodak. Then I did not think of her until recently at the WPPI Convention Tradeshow. Her question, “Is it Kodak?” came back to me as I listened to Bruce Hyland premiere Kodak ProShots System v6.0. He commented, “As the digital world grew, pessimists thought that Kodak would be displaced. But Kodak has created the de facto industry standard for digital imaging workflow.” And Jeff Gunderman, U.S. Marketing Manager, Photographer Segment, Kodak Professional, added, “Consumers perceive the trusted Kodak Brand behind our new products. Kodak has become linked to responsibility and credibility.” By asking me “Is it Kodak?” the centenarian I had photographed had said much the same thing. Films, cameras, and technology might change over centuries, but regardless of the product, this icon of international industry has become a symbol of trust. The most basic testimony to this fact occurs every time a client performs the simple transaction of using his credit card on the web site. It was within this framework that Feb. 3 became the platform for photographers, labs and associated vendors to get their first glimpse of the latest Kodak secret technology, known as ProShots v6.0. Simply stated by Bruce Hyland, ProShots v6.0 is “an imaging architecture that connects the lab to the photographer and the photographer to the client.” He explained, “It simplifies the process and overcomes a variety of workflow problems.” As the owner of a small studio, I was certainly acquainted with work- flow problems. My studio is in that awkward age, half film and half digital. When a re-order comes in, I have to think twice about whether to run to my rapidly growing CD storage tower or to the drawers of negative files. I was quick to understand that, with ProShots I could now combine film orders and digital orders as one job!
Next I thought about my rolltop desk with its cubby holes jammed full of cropping cards, glassines, air bills and drafting tape. I admit I am guilty of resisting the lure of past versions of ProShots; I was convinced that it would be too difficult to learn. But every time I bent over the light table with a stack of crop cards, or slid a mat into a bound book, I knew there had to be better ways to accomplish these tasks. Perhaps ProShots v6.0 provides those “better ways.” According to David Ziser, renowned wedding photographer and my mentor, Kodak has developed ProShots v6.0 in order to transform workflow problems into workflow opportunities. Now, that was a tall order! On Feb. 3, David Ziser stood amidst the bustle of Kodak’s giant display and mini-theatre on the WPPI Tradeshow floor. Eager photographers fired questions at him as he deftly toggled a laptop through the paces of the new ProShots. But I wanted to see this new system work without any canned programming. I wanted to see it work without the dazzling benefit of award-winning images. In short, I wanted to see it work with some of my simple, everyday wedding photographs. Ziser accepted my challenge. He popped my CD into his laptop. Almost immediately 12 of my images were imported, and I began my cyber-sojourn into the world of ProShots v6.0. In simple steps, David Ziser blended title “slides” with my “slides” on the “desktop,” which graphically resembled my own little light board in my own little studio. He then showed me that I could rotate all of my images at once, or rotate them each individually. After adding a music CD, I was ready to show, and sell, my images through a clever slideshow. ProShots even included artistic transitions between each image. Delightful. I told Ziser, “This is so exciting, I have goose bumps.” He grinned and put my comment into perspective, “Yes, and your clients will still be in goose bump mode when they choose shots and place orders on the way.”
I saw how simply I could batch- order proof prints, and create elegant proof pages in one sweet single transaction. Efficient! Additionally, I could see how I could combine, split and reorganize proofs. How perfect for my newest client, a select private Junior High School! As we worked on orders, and I gleefully created black-and-white prints and sepia-tone prints, a perfectly itemized invoice was being created in the background. I also discovered that I could indulge my creativity, working on the computer, even during the time my images and orders were being transmitted to my lab. How novel, my lab and I could work simultaneously! Even though I had just started working on the program, I found its icons and graphics so friendly and its instructions and prompts so clear that I could now believe Ziser’s claim that he could have 250 images ready to go in about an hour. Fast! In my opinion, learning ProShots is not as difficult as studying the steps to write an email. Ziser grinned and said, “Now you are seeing why I can fill orders and design albums while I’m lying out on a beach.” I wasn’t quite sure about the beach, but I did like the way ProShots v6.0 could assist my salesmanship. It is new technology that can help us to introduce new products. For example, I learned how much easier ProShots would make it for me to sell the elegant Image Box, a relatively new product for my studio. The box made great business sense since I could offer it for about $600, as an alternative to my “tapestry,” a 20x24 wall portrait on canvas. A big canvas is not everyone’s style, but until now, I had not realized how to present the box as a comparably priced product. Using the client’s own images on the screen is the key to making the box irresistible. Ah. Goosebumps again. On the other hand, if I did want to sell a wall portrait, ProShots lets me upload an image of the bride’s living room and show how the portrait would actually appear on her personal wall. The best part of this option is that I can size the wall portrait proportionately so I can show her how a 16x20, a 20x24, a 20x30 or a 30x40 would balance her décor. Why not show her a wall collection while I am at it? What’s more, I could even sell her frames at the same time! Splendid! As I played with the easy zooming option and marveled at the newly enriched sharper detail, David gave me some ProShots background. He said, “I got involved with this technology five years ago. Then, I became intimately involved with its design after Kodak bought it from a company called Hicks. I truly believe Kodak has made a commitment to making life easier and faster for the pro photographer.” Then, I was ready to view the crown jewel of ProShots v6.0, the Direct Album Design. Now I can design, upload and publish my own albums online. Now, how convenient is that? How cool is that? I would no longer have to depend on the lab to post the images in album format. I once waited three and a half weeks for such a posting, from a company which will remain nameless. By then, the clients that had been so hot to buy images had cooled considerably. This waste of time was not really their fault. They just did not have ProShots v6.0! But speed, convenience and an easy learning curve were not enough to romance me away from my glassines and crop cards. What won my heart was the creative edge the program gives the photographer. I imagined the bride seated at my elbow, surveying the screen as I created album pages in unique mats. With ProShots v6.0, I realized she could now perceive my value as a storyteller. She could see me as I crafted the pages that captured her day. She could respond with delight as I showed her some options in size, shape, color, black and white, sepia and mats. I could bring the vision of her memories one step closer to reality by showing it to her in virtual reality with her own images and gorgeous graphics. As if reading my mind David Ziser stated, “When we put together albums now they can see the storytelling images we have in our mind’s eye. Thus, the brides can begin to take ownership of their album long before it is delivered.” I could generate album worksheets for the bride to keep, a memento of the design session. And I could work with confidence, as I created albums, and processed those all-important family orders, because an outstanding feature of v6.0 is that it is image-based, not number based. No errors! And the system also keeps the family orders in order, by client! Now, I would not waste anymore time sorting scores of images into the appropriate owner’s batch. My mind wandered back to my 102 year old client and her question. Perhaps as I survey labs for my studio, I should be asking not only, “Is it Kodak?” but “Is it ProShots?” Now I know it makes a difference. I think I’ll dump the contents of my rolltop desk. Oh, but I’ll keep the drafting tape, to put a sign on the studio door that says, “Gone to the Beach To Fill Your Orders!” Charmaine Beleele, with an MA in Communication, owns a small studio, Angel Kissed Studio, and teaches communication, at Westark College. She also writes part-time for a small newspaper in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She can be reached via e-mail at: Beleele@aol.com.
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