Click "Sign In" below to access your account
Click "Create Account" to register with lexjet.com
Like anyone who has been in the photography business for more than 25 years, Chris Lommel has learned how to adapt to change. He started out in photojournalism for newspapers in the late 70s and shot weddings part time for 20 years before opening up his own portrait studio in 1991.
The studio is located a comfortable rural setting between the communities of Monticello, Big Lake, and Becker, Minn. (roughly midway between the cities of Minneapolis and St. Cloud).
Using the waterfalls, streams, ponds, flowerbeds, and lush green spaces on the studio’s grounds as scenic backdrops, Lommel shoots portraits of seniors, families, and children. With help from his wife/business partner and a full-time designer/retoucher, he has been doing portrait work full-time since 1996.
Although Lommel enjoyed working in the darkroom during his days on the newspapers, he sent all his work to a lab when he got into the portrait photography business.
He still sends most of his portrait and sports photography work to a lab, but purchased an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 a couple of years ago and added a 44-in. Canon iPF8100 last December. He finds it exciting to have full creative control over his images whenever he wants to. Plus, he has quickly discovered how versatile in-studio printers can be for rush jobs, specialty work, new product development, and diversification.
For example, when a client called and requested a photo enlargement for a funeral the next day, Lommel was able to provide it. And when he assembles proof books for his high-school seniors, he will print a custom cover for each book, so the seniors can see how the final, retouched prints will look. He also outputs orders for large prints on LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas and Sunset Photo eSatin Paper.
But the biggest advantage of having an in-studio wide-format printer is showing clients what else they can do with their photographs.
For example, while working on a yearbook for a local company that was celebrating its 30th anniversary, Lommel suggested enlarging one of the company’s historic 8 x 10 prints into a 168 in. x 9 ft. mural for the wall of their front office. He printed the image in four 42 in. x 9 ft. pieces on Photo Tex PSA Fabric from LexJet and installed the panels with the help of the graphic designer who had worked with him on the piece. The company has received a lot of nice comments on the mural from visitors as well as employees.
For the company’s conference room, he produced five colorful banners on LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth. These, too, have been well received. Lommel says that the company hadn’t given much thought to all the ways they could use their archived pictures until he started suggesting ideas.
In addition to the décor prints for corporate offices, Lommel has started printing sports banners on vinyl and Tyvek. Each banner is a composite of the team members and is anywhere from 8 to 15 ft. wide. It is produced early in the season and displayed in the team’s gym, pool or softball field.
The banners include Lommel’s logo and help create a lot of buzz for the studio. Smaller versions of the banner image are made available for team members to purchase and are printed on Sunset Photo eSatin paper.
Another new product he is testing is sports posters on Photo Tex PSA fabric. “We made a unique image on high-key white of a senior soccer player and printed it poster-size,” explains Lommel. “They displayed the poster at her graduation open house, and all her friends signed it.” Now, the student athlete can take the poster to college and hang it in her room if she wants.
Next spring, Lommel plans to convert custom grad announcements into yard Tyvek sign pieces that seniors can use to promote their open-house graduation parties.
“It’s nice to have an in-house printer to make prints when we need to,” says Lommel. The studio is equipped with an X-Rite Color Munki device so they can make their own profiles if they need to, but they typically just use the profiles that LexJet provides.
“The staff at LexJet has been good at helping us with color issues,” says Lommel. “But I’ve studied the subject enough to have a better-than-basic understanding of what’s involved.”
Earlier this year, Lommel tested his printmaking prowess by making his own prints for a regional print competition instead of sending them to a lab. “It was fun and exciting,” he says. The image, which was printed on a high-gloss display film, won one of the top prizes in the competition.
When the busy senior-portrait season subsides later this fall, Lommel plans to explore additional opportunities to serve the business community: “I’m always looking for the next big thing, and what people are interested in having in terms of photography products.”
He adds that “In today’s marketplace, we’re always looking for ways to diversify. Being more diverse better positions us to thrive in any economy.”