Today's Guest: Richard Clark of True Life Images in Millersburg, Pennsylvania
Today's Host: John Bentley
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Richard Clark Expert PageANNOUNCER: This VTalk Radio Photography Spotlight is brought to you by morephotos.com helping professional photographers with all their internet needs. Welcome to the VTalk Radio Photographer Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: Today we are in the studio with Millersburg, Pennsylvania, photographer, Richard Clark of True Life Images. Welcome to the program, Richard.
RICHARD: Great. Thanks guys, it's nice to be here.
JOHN: We certainly appreciate you coming on here and talking about your photography business down there in Pennsylvania. Just give me a general overview of what you guys are up to down there.
RICHARD: Well True Life Images who's actual full name is True Life Images Digital FX Studio is a premier photography studio, 100% digital, specializing in on-site or on location photography services. We come out to our customer to deliver the services. We take the pictures, show the proofs and allow the customer to place their order all in the same session for expediency sake. So we tend to do a good job. We run 100% satisfaction for the customer base that we have in Dauphin County in central Pennsylvania, and we're happy to be of service to our community.
JOHN: Well when you say 100% satisfaction, what exactly are you talking about?
RICHARD: Well what that means is that when we take a customer's pictures, when we come out to do a shot, if you will, we make sure that customer is 100% satisfied with the services that are rendered. If we have to retake the shot or re-do the session, whatever it takes, guarantee that a customer is going to be satisfied with the results of the session, and so that eliminates the surprise that can come from taking the pictures, going back processing them, then coming back and showing them, and then they say, oh we don't like them and then say well that's too bad, you have to pay again to have your pictures re-done, that's ridiculous. I mean the customers wanting to capture and savor a moment, and this may be a moment in time that may never come again so we ensure that we deliver the services as fast and expedient and as professional as possible right away to make sure they are happy with what they receive.
JOHN: Ok, Richard tell me what kind of photography focus are you guys doing? Are you doing primarily family portraits, what is the thrust of your business?
RICHARD: Well you know that's a great question, I mean, what we try to do is cover the scope of photography that fits within the types of environments that really encompasses everyday life. We do portraiture photography where we come to a clients' residence or their place of preference and then we'll do shots of their children of the family members and the like and we'll also do specialized portrait photography such as generational shots and, you know, shots of the siblings at different ages and things like that to kind of show a timeline. We also do wedding photography. Wedding photography is, of course, one of the staples of photography in that that's supposedly once in a life time thing then people want to make sure that they have the best in photography services when they have those memories recorded, and so we'll do some wedding photography. We also do sports photography which includes some of the leagues that are in central Pennsylvania, Dauphin County and soccer or baseball or football. We also do some graduation photography. Right now we are the preferred photographer for Cumberland Valley and we take pictures of their graduations and some of their events throughout the year. So there's really a wide scope of services. The scope surrounds image photography, and we try to do the best we can to be the best at each category.
JOHN: Now when you do senior portraits, traditionally senior portraits are in studio, but you guys are an on site photographer. What are you looking for when you try to capture that senior?
RICHARD: Well that's interesting and that's a great question. Again, you know, every senior, every person has their own personality. They have they're own ambiance about them that we as photographers are responsible for capturing. It doesn't necessarily mean that that has to happen in a controlled environment such as in a studio. We also do that as well, but we tend to try and take advantage of the beauty that we have in central Pennsylvania of going out and going to those places where we can also establish or capture that special characteristics of that senior. And so we also allow things like changing of clothing articles and we also have some outsource services in the rhelm of makeup and hair and things like that that allows us to really make that senior's photography session very, very special. So while it's always nice to be in a controlled environment in a studio, you know, not everyone's not really comfortable with that. A lot of times they want to have those outdoor shots and that's actually becoming more popular. So we do a lot to really go after making that senior's pictures worth keeping.
JOHN: Now you guys are doing primarily just digital photography now or do you ever get anybody that's looking for standard film anymore?
RICHARD: Well we don't really get anyone that looks for film anymore. A lot of people are asking for a lot of black and white now-a-days and we do quite a bit of that, but that can also be done digitally. We are 100% digital. We will remain 100% digital. We shoot with some of the best equipment in the industry. Not everyone that has a digital camera can consider themselves professional, but because it's all in the photographer and it's all in the quality of the lens and we have top notch equipment in which to do that with, and so anything that could have been done with film, we can do today with our equipment and Photoshop.
JOHN: Well, while I have you here and before we take a little break, would you kindly tell our listeners your website address and contact information.
RICHARD: Sure. You can contact us at www.truelifeimages.com and contact us at telephone (717) 982-2877.
JOHN: We are in the studio with Millersburg, Pennsylvania, photographer, Richard Clark of True Life Images, and you're listening to the VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight. We will be right back after these important messages.
ANNOUNCER: This VTalk Radio Spotlight is sponsored by morephotos.com, the online photo sales solution to professional photographers worldwide.
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ANNOUNCER: We now return you to the VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: Wecome back everyone. We are back in the studio with Millersburg, Pennsylvania, photographer, Richard Clark of True Life Images. Welcome back to the program, Richard.
RICHARD: Thanks.
JOHN: Now we've been talking about your photography business down there in Pennsylvania, because we're up here in Michigan, but you have a thriving business down there. Can you tell our listening audience maybe some of the areas that you cover down there. I realize you guys will go anywhere to do a shoot, but what are some of the area down there that you cover?
RICHARD: Well we cover, generally, the central Pennsylvania area as far west as maybe Pittsburgh or the eastern portion of Pittsburgh and as far east as Allentown, Bethlehem area. We also cover an area south entering in just shy of Baltimore, and so it's a pretty wide area that we cover, and we've teamed up with a new studio, Digital Fire, which is out in New York City who also does quite a bit of work with, and we're covering now a little bit of New York and a little bit of Connecticut as well. So pretty much anywhere on the upper eastern corridor, we can reach out and get to our customers and all it takes is a phone call or an inquiry through our website and we'll be there.
JOHN: What about facilities in the area that you like to use or you have used in the past?
RICHARD: Well some facilities that we've used, for example, in the Harrisburg area, we've used quite a bit of Hershey Gardens, Hershey Park. We've used inside of Harrisburg, Battalion Lake and there's City Island which is a small island in the middle of the Susquehanna River. It's a very nice and scenic environment there. We've also used in Allentown, for example, we've used...there's a beautiful rose garden up there that we've used as part of a...and that's been used quite a bit for like weddings that we've shot, and we've also used some private residences that we have within the family that we are able to get use of the flowers and the rocks and all the scenes that the northeast has as beautifying elements.
JOHN: Now how long has True Life Images been in business?
RICHARD: True Life Images has been in business for about 12 years. It started out with shooting medium format and it's always been an on location business. Started out shooting medium format in film, if you remember back in the day as the box cameras, and we started out with that, and we're shooting in 5 stores. Remember the days in Woolworths and McQuaries and perhaps some of the older stores where they used to have photography services. They were right up front there. We started out that way, and then we decided that we wanted to move a little more upscale and do more higher quality work in on customer sites and that's how we kind of grew the business, and now we're in Pennsylvania, and we're covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and then with our partner, Digital Fire, we're covering a little bit of New York and Connecticut and business is doing quite well. We're probably one of the higher end studios that you're going to find in the northeast.
JOHN: Now what do you think is the most important goal as a photographer when you have a photo shoot or a session with a customer?
RICHARD: Make your customer comfortable. Make them comfortable to the point where they have no fear about the session and making them happy to want to participate and what to do. You've got to make them laugh. That's the cornerstone, the character behind the camera is as important as the subject in taking pictures. So if they're not comfortable or they're not happy, then they're not going to take good pictures. It's as simple as that, and we strive to make sure that our clients are comfortable and happy and that they don't really realize the camera is there, because those are the best shots. The ones that are taking a natural inclination to them. Those are the ones that get published.
JOHN: Yeah, certainly capturing that expression on their face, that moment, that thought, perhaps.
RICHARD: Oh, absolutely, they don't even have to be looking at the camera. We do a lot of work where the subject is not looking at the camera, but they're, you know, observing something in their environment or particularly with children you'll find it tough to get them to sit on pose. You know, posed shots are really...they have their value, but they're largely a thing of the past in terms of professional photography. It's about capturing the moment, and that's what we do.
JOHN: Now you guys also do some videography, is that true?
RICHARD: Yeah, we do a little videography. We're starting to branch out into that where we're supplementing our still photography with videography with particular events like weddings which a lot of people what to have DVDs or movies of their weddings, we do full choreography of their work. We story board it. We treat it like a movie and in special services that involves a lot of attention, and we give that to our customers to produce a product that is full scale including titles and credits.
JOHN: Well, I want to thank you for joining us, Richard. Before I let you go, though, would you kindly give your your website address and contact information for our listening audience.
RICHARD: Sure. The site address is www.truelifeimages.com and our phone number is (717) 982-2877...that's our primary number or you can contact us at (717) 982-2876; fax number is (866) 365-1788.
JOHN: We have been in the studio with Millersburg, Pennsylvania, photographer, Richard Clark of True Life Images, and you've been listening to the VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight. Have a great afternoon everyone.
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