February 2017

ENTHUSIASM FOR SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS SOARS

Since the election of Donald Trump, the enthusiasm level for small business has soared to levels not seen since 1980.

​ This is a state of mind that professional photographers have been hoping to see for many years as purchasing portraits is a non-necessity.  The new enthusiastic attitude could bring a real difference in portrait studio sales.

GIVE US TWO MINUTES AND WE’LL CHANGE YOUR WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY​

Click on the arrow to view the video!

SWPPA
SOUTHWEST PHOTO EXPO & CONFERENCE
March 24th - 28th, 2017

CUSTOM BACKGROUNDS ARE OFTEN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL

Volume photographers have discovered that some of the most popular backgrounds are those that relate directly to their school or organization such as an image of their school building or a portion of it or a sports field, basketball court or even an important logo.  The more different the photographs are from anything they can do on their own with their own camera, the better.

THE WORLD OF VOLUME PHOTOGRAPHERS

While taking school pictures is the mainstay of volume photographers, performing the service in both the fall and again in the spring, volume photographers also engage in any photographic operation that involves volume.  This includes high school seniors all the way down to preschoolers as well as special events like photographing dances or balls, especially military balls.    All volume photography is not “slap bang” depending on the exact nature of the job.  For example, most school photographers spend considerably more time doing seniors than they spend on undergraduates. ​
THERE ARE 100 VIDEO CLIPS ON YOU TUBE WHICH DEMONSTRATE WHAT THIS PHENOMENAL PROCESS KNOWN AS VIRTUAL PROJECTED BACKGROUNDS CAN DO FOR YOU.  GET THE FACTS.  SEE FOR YOURSELF.​

SEE AND TRY A VIRTUAL BACKGROUND SYSTEM FOR YOURSELF 

​Besides coming to the Virtual Backgrounds headquarters in San Marcos, TX you can visit Peter Budraitis in Long Island New York.
Peter has agreed to make his studio a demonstration center of virtual backgrounds.
​
​ Just call and make an appointment

​Visit 
Peter Budraitis
Studio to see VB in action.
Call (516) 674-0227
Email: studio@pmbphoto.com
Website:www.pmbphoto.com

Visit Cindy Cofer Barclay in Louisville Kentucky

Watch this short video to get a personal invitation from Cindy to come visit.  You'll be amazed. 
Click on the Arrow to view the Video. 
Call Cindy at (502) 266-9119 or 
Visit Cindy's Website

DOUG GORDON'S 

​Order Doug Gordon's new book on FLOW POSING
​
Check it out by clicking on this link

CLICK TO SEE THE DECEMBER ISSUE OF THE BACKGROUNDER
​
​CLICK TO SEE THE JANUARY 2017 ISSUE OF THE BACKGROUNDER

7 PIECE POSERS

"How did I function before I had a VB seven piece poser assembly?"  That is what you will be asking once you start using the VB
7 piece poser.      
Original Price $655.00
Sale Price $491.00
​Only while supplies last!!
Click on the arrow to view the video

The New Digital Scene Machine Mini

Picture
Camera and Tablet not included
Click to learn more!!

WAREHOUSE
CLEARANCE
SALE 

We have a wide variety of photo products available for sale while supplies last.  Take a look at the list below.

"WOW!   I DON’T BELIEVE IT."
 "THIS IS THE MOST POWERFUL PRODUCT
​ I HAVE SEEN AT THIS ENTIRE SHOW"

This is what we heard from the many attendees at our exhibit at Imaging USA in San Antonio Texas in January.  The VB booth was continually busy with many visitors who had never before seen the projected background concept.  Many just didn’t believe that what they were seeing was possible.  
 
A number of our virtual background system owners also visited and often hung around the booth sharing their experience with their Scene Machine with newcomers.  This included Lester and Judy Wilson from Indiana and Waldo Berry from Kansas.  Visit Lester & Judy at Wilson's Photography     

Waldo specializes in photographing military balls in unique backgrounds and his Scene Machine is his key promotional tool.  He reported that any time he went up against a competitor for a ball contract, he won the contract because of his having the Scene Machine background projection system.  Visit Waldo Berry at WB Photography 

To learn more about the Scene Machine, go to www.virtualbackgroundsphotography.com

UTAH MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER,
GLEN RICKS
 USING HIS SCENE MACHINE SINCE 1986 ​

PictureGlen Ricks
In 1986 Glen Ricks M.Photog. Cr., CPP bought his Scene Machine projected background system.  And, he still uses it today!  There have been several changes over the years - and Glen has kept up with those changes.  He still prefers to use slides for creating his background.  "Winter time is a prime time for projected backgrounds.  We tell our clients that 'we can photograph you with green trees or fall leaves any time of the year!"  Glen especially likes the abstract looks he gets with the system.
 


One of his photographs was accepted into PPA’s Imaging USA 2017 Loan Collection.  It was made using the Scene Machine!  (girl in blue)
 
Glen started his studio in 1979 and in 2002 he moved to his current location, his dream studio, a 100+ year old Victorian home on Main Street in American Fork, Utah.  Today Glen Ricks Photography Inc. is considered one of the top portrait studios in Utah.  It is recognized as a Business of Excellence.
 
It is our goal to create images that are customized to our clients’ desires.  Glen has a beautiful camera room and portrait garden right on site.  His portrait and wedding assignments have taken him as far away as Hawaii and Mexico City.
 
Glen’s local and national awards are numerous.  He is currently recognized as one of only a handful of photographers in Utah holding the degrees of Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsmen and Certified Professional Photographer.  He has won many awards for his photographic excellence including the prestigious National Kodak Gallery Award.

Glen has a reputation for fine quality and because of this, he has served on the boards of several organizations.  He is currently a member of the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce, the American Fork Chamber of Commerce and Rotary International and past president and current board member of the Intermountain Professional Photographers Association.

www.glenricksphotography.com
(801) 756-8824

VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS EXHIBITS AT SPAC 
(SCHOOL AND VOLUME PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOW)

Virtual backgrounds once again exhibited at the SPAC show in late January which was held in Las Vegas.  The primary interest at the show was incorporating virtual backgrounds into volume photography and replacing troublesome green screen.  SPAC stands for School Photographers of California which has now grown into a national show that even attracts internationals from Australia and Europe.

NOT EVERYTHING IN PHOTOGRAPHY
IS DOOM AND GLOOM

SPAC SHOWS PHENOMENAL GROWTH

While most photographers end up making very little money primarily because of the digital revolution which made everyone a photographer, the school and volume photography segment is growing rapidly.  SPAC (School Photographers Association of California) has been showing tremendous growth, going from not much over 100 attended to their annual convention to now more than 600.  Volume photography is still alive and well and SPAC membership proves it.  Most members are career photographers who earn most or all of their income from volume photography.  Some members have as many as 50 or more photography crews during the busy season photographing tens of thousands, taking primarily school pictures but doing other kinds of volume photography as well.  
 
While many "artsy" photographers look down their noses at school photography as being rather mundane, school photographers have a history of making the most money, by far and they don’t even work a full year.  Yes, it is hard work but the demand for their services remains strong and may even show signs of increasing as the public tires of having nothing more than candid snapshots.  School photography is a known entity that provides the family with quality school day images in economical packages.
 
In recent years school photography has been spiced up by using green screen and projected virtual backgrounds that enables the photographer to provide a more enhanced look through background variety, especially for the spring shoots.
 
If you are looking for a way to make serious money, take a good look at school and volume photography.

SICK AND TIRED OF GREEN SCREEN BACKGROUNDS AND ITS PROBLEMS
​
SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHERS LOOK TO PROJECTED BACKGROUNDS AS AN ALTERNATIVE

PictureShow me the money
Once upon a time all school photographers came to a job with one blurred hand painted background often known as an “Old Masters” background.  Then in their search to add variety many photographers began using green screen or chromakey.  Although chromakey is cheap to adopt, it is really terribly expensive in the long run because it is very expensive to use for volume photography, requires a good deal of time behind the computer, and has other issue like green fringe around a subject.  Green screen took hold because it brought the photographer the opportunity to offer varied backgrounds but it also brought with it issues that made it extremely expensive to use in the long run. Photographers generally pay from 35 cents to nearly a dollar for EVERY shot to have the green background knocked out and replaced with a background of choice.

By contrast, virtual backgrounds is more expensive to start with but it costs zero per shot to use, saves the photographer a great deal of time, and results in a higher quality product.  Many long time green screen users complain that they have about had it with green screen and are searching for an alternative and are delighted when they discover projected virtual backgrounds.  Using projected virtual backgrounds instead of green screen can save the volume photographer about $300.00 per shooting day.  That $300 goes directly to the photographers bottom line profit.

​SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHERS PAY A HIGH COMMISSION TO THE SCHOOLS THEY SHOOT

School officials discovered years ago that they could force school photographers to pay the school a commission generally ranging from 10% to as much as 40% on every package of school pictures the photographer sells to the kids.  This brings the schools a great deal of money that unlike tax dollars, generally goes into a slush fund.  As a result school photographers have to increase their prices to the parents but have to be careful they don’t price themselves out of a contract.
 
Here is an interesting caveat.  Whereas school photographers have to pay the agreed upon commission on every dollar brought in, if they are able to reduce their cost per shot such as by eliminating green screen and going to projected virtual backgrounds, they can save around 50 cents per shot per child and that savings goes directly to the photographer’s bottom line because the commission is paid on the gross cost of the school packages.  Therefore any money saved in the production of school pictures is doubly important.  This is just another important benefit that comes with using projected Virtual Backgrounds in place of Green Screen.

ANOTHER STUDIO CHAIN DISAPPEARS

TARGET announced that it is closing the last 138 of its portrait studios.  This almost completes the closing of all the standard big box store portrait studios.  Over the past couple of years the studios located in Walmart, Sears, K-Mart, and Olan Mills studios have disappeared.  The Picture People studios located in major malls filed for bankruptcy last year and has reorganized but has closed a number of its locations.

The Target studios were operated by Lifetouch.

What does this all mean to the photographic industry?  It shows that the old model of portrait studios cannot survive in the digital age where everyone has their own cell phone camera.  These studios all did very little to change their model other than convert from film to digital.  The only hope for the future is to create studios that produce enticing products using innovative technology like projected virtual backgrounds that the public cannot produce on their own.  And yet most photographers continue to follow, the old failed model.

To read details about the Target closing click on this link.
http://fortune.com/2017/01/11/target-portrait-studios-close-lifetouch/

 ARE PHOTOGRAPHERS INSANE?

A standard layman’s definition of insanity is “doing what you have always done but expecting different results.”  But this is exactly what is happening in professional photography and a fundamental reason for the tens of thousands of failures.  Not only is it happening to independent photographers but the closing of all Walmart, K-Mart, Sears, Target and Olan Mills Studios across the country is clear evidence that photographers must change their operating model or perish, or just do professional photography for fun money.
 
Now that everyone can take “good enough” pictures with their digital cameras, there is no longer a need for paying professional photographers to do what one can do themselves and have fun doing it.  Professional photographers must change their model to concentrate on producing product amateurs cannot create.  They must concentrate on providing the public with a totally unique experience in addition to applying their creativity and fundamental knowledge of the basics of professional portraiture.  
 
It isn’t enough to just offer candid snapshots taken here and there around town.  Any amateur can do that.  Today, having a studio and proper equipment such as projected virtual backgrounds, coupled with true photographic talent and good marketing are the only remaining keys to real success in the world of portraits. 
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