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FAQs

Q. How do I book Bill and what is the process regarding provisional bookings?

A. Simple. Contact either Lara or Jill on 020 8542 2444 or office@phototech.co.uk and tell them what you need. You will be given access to the diary and on request an estimate of cost based on your requirements. A provisional booking will secure a date at no cost. A cancellation 24 hours before the booking will also be at no charge. Less than 24 hours a charge will be made at 50% of the basic rate. Cancellations on the day will be charged in full. Weather permitting bookings by arrangement.

Q. What will it cost?

A. That depends on what your requirements are, please ring or e-mail for advice.

Q. Can I have my images immediately on disc?

A. Well, the quick answer is yes although with some jobs we prefer not to work in this way. Please refer to “What is file optimisation?” for a full explanation.

Q. Do I have the rights to use the image forever and do I own the copyright?

A. The copyright is owned by Bill Prentice, Photographic Techniques Ltd under the terms of the 1988 Copyright Act and we will grant you a licence to use the images for a certain period of time or for the intended purposes. Under certain circumstances, we might grant licences for indefinite usage across all media or we may even assign copyright completely. We will, however, retain the right to use all imagery for the purposes of self-promotion.

Q. What is digital capture and how big are the files that you provide?

A. Digital capture is a term used to describe the method of taking a photograph. It is not the same as a digital image. Digital capture is a photograph that has been taken with a digital camera as opposed to a digital image which could come from a scanned negative, transparency, or print, as well as from a digital camera. We charge a small amount of money, known as a digital capture fee which covers the use of camera equipment, lighting, computers and software instead of an amount of money for each roll of film used. This enables us to keep completely up to date with the latest and best equipment. The size of the files will depend on the requirements of every job. Rest assured that Bill will always use the best and most appropriate equipment for each job and draw it from our stores as and when required.

Q. Why should I use Bill rather than another photographer?

A. There are several benefits in using a safe, long-established photographer with a back-up team. You can be absolutely certain that we take our business and your business responsibilities seriously. Such things as Public Liability Insurance, using legal paid-for software on our computers, ensuring that our employees do not have a criminal record (particularly important when photographing children), not to mention the consistency and brand protection issues that arise from using different photographers. We are also able to offer holiday cover and access to images every working day because we are not a sole trader. Imagine trying to get hold of your images in a hurry when your photographer is on holiday for 2 weeks.

Q. What is File Optimisation?

A. No digital camera in the world will produce a perfect colour-balanced and contrast balanced file straight from the camera. By their very nature, they are designed to produce a flat-looking result, capturing maximum information in the blacks and whites (shadows and highlights). This is a good thing but left un-optimised will produce a rather flat, dull-looking picture. We take the raw file, make the colour and contrast corrections, do any simple retouching that may be required, crop the image, size it sensibly for your intended use and save it in a format most appropriate to your use. A good example of the benefits of file optimisation would be as follows:

As an example, following a day’s work shooting lifestyle images with models, you might have photographed several scenarios, each with as many as 100 captures for each scenario. If we were to simply write a disc at the end of the day, you may have a total of say 1000 images taking up 6Gb of disc space. How would you view them, how would you store them and how would you send them? Far better to choose and perhaps e-mail your preferred choices. Bill will then optimise and send you the finished result – perfect and ready to go and all tailored to your usage requirements. You get files which suit your purpose, Bill’s work will look its best!

Q. What if I am not satisfied?

A. If you are not satisfied, you won’t give Bill another job. To be honest, it doesn’t happen, Bill has his future reputation in mind with every job he does, word of mouth is Bill’s most important promotional tool!

Q. And if I am delighted with the results?

A. Tell your friends and colleagues - recommend Bill!