School & team photography made easy

School, sports team and individual (T&I) photographers are ramping up before school starts which is why we are featuring a spotlight on the DARKROOM Assembly edition software (which just happens to be on super-sale right now) in this week’s blog post… but first…

Some photography headlines we found for you:

1. Marathon Press has announced new, cheaper and more effective promotional materials (brochures, large post cards and the like) to get you up and running this summertime season. We really like what Marathon does to support photographers and summertime is the best time to get the attention of current and new customers that could be calling you for appointments during the fall photography rush. Click here to see what they have to offer.

2. A new PMA Data Watch report has been made available today regarding how people are buying photography. Their survey announcement indicates a high trend in photographers losing more business in 8x10 and wallets (which are just segmented 8x10s) to at-home printing. This reminds us that 8x10s are our biggest sellers on PhotoReflect.com and that we should make sure our prices for these bread-and-butter sellers are competitive.

3. Cool photos:

• Can’t ignore the World Cup these days, which is why we thought this collection of shots taken of the good, the bad and the goofy taken in South Africa is appropriate and fun.
• Here is a beautifully composed picture of the president taking a deep breathe.
• And I got of kick out of this sweet picture that also satisfies my geek fix.

4. PictureCorrect has four good tips on taking pictures at the beach. This short and simple article also translates well (and reminds some of us of fill-in-flash techniques) to all outdoor photos, which is good cause I am landlocked here in Austin.

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This week’s spotlight is for school and team sports photographers:
The straight scoop on DARKROOM Assembly Edition

DARKROOM, the photography industry’s most popular all-in-one software solution, has announced that their specialty solution designed for school photographers (i.e. those shooting a large database among other specific needs) is on sale this summer with prices slowing going back up as we all get closer to school season.

Quick detail of this promotion: The Assembly edition software is on sale at 30% off in the month of June, 20% of in the month of July and 10% in the month of August in order to encourage school photographers to try, buy and get training before their first contracts of the new school year.

So what’s the big deal?

For one, you can download a trial version right now to see how it works knowing that training is free with purchase.

Secondly, it’s built on the DARKROOM platform, which means if you want the industry’s best greenscreen tools, you got it; you need it to plug-in to PhotoShop and Quickbooks, done; need to incorporate templates for memory mates, calendars and anything you can imaging?, that’s also there.

And in addition, it blows away its competitors in that:

• It’s the only direct-purchase (no lease) solution on the market. When talking to dealers and instructors about the software it has become increasingly clear that school photography solutions have become a racket. The only true competitors to Assembly Edition require a lease (where you pay more to use the equipment by project or every year) or special plug-ins for the myriad of school and team and individual (T&I) workflows. I do not know if that annoys you at all, but when I sign up for something only to find out I need to shell out more to get the job done, I get miffed.
• It replaces the need for six other pieces of software. In a quick review of the ExpressDigital Yahoo! forums, I found users that love that they don’t need to load anything else onto their primary computers to complete school projects. Without naming names (cough**ROES* PhotoShop* SchoolDays* Gallery* FileMaker* et.al**cough) Assembly Edition handles camera capture, scanner data, project management, proofing, envelops, photo editing, online selling and more right out of the box.
• It is designed to consider 9 different group photography workflows. Whether you work pre-paid, on spec, tether your camera, connect to a database, use a scanner or any multitude of your school photography business challenges, the software is designed to cover all of your bases.

Click here to read more about the promotion and what the software is designed to do.