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LOL... Olan Mills... Are they even still in business? I thought they went under.
They're still around, I filled my Corvair up with Ethyl and drove over there right after I opened my box of powdered laundry detergent and dug the towel out. When I got home I had a big glass of Tang and my wife had a Tab...
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This thread brings back memories,,,
Back in 1983-1985 I was a "road division" photographer for Olan Mills.
Road division meant I traveled to the small towns with portable gear,,,
They got two motel rooms with a connecting door between them,,,
One room was my "waiting room" and the 2nd was the studio.
It really was a great experience for a new photographer,,,
I called it my apprenticeship for my 15 year photography career.
I would traditionally shoot between 40 to 45 sittings a day Tuesday through Thursday,,,
Then as many as 64 sittings in an 8-hour day on Friday and Saturdays.
If you had a decent salesperson (Proof Consultant they called them),,,
The money was actually pretty danged good for the times,,,
I traditionally made between 4-500 bucks a week.
But according to Google they are no longer in business.
Aarond
.
Back in 1983-1985 I was a "road division" photographer for Olan Mills.
Road division meant I traveled to the small towns with portable gear,,,
They got two motel rooms with a connecting door between them,,,
One room was my "waiting room" and the 2nd was the studio.
It really was a great experience for a new photographer,,,
I called it my apprenticeship for my 15 year photography career.
I would traditionally shoot between 40 to 45 sittings a day Tuesday through Thursday,,,
Then as many as 64 sittings in an 8-hour day on Friday and Saturdays.
If you had a decent salesperson (Proof Consultant they called them),,,
The money was actually pretty danged good for the times,,,
I traditionally made between 4-500 bucks a week.
But according to Google they are no longer in business.
Aarond
.
Kilt off by the digital wave.
Interesting story, thanks
Actually, Lifetouch, the company who bought out Olan Mills,,,
Tried to get into the very early stages of digital imagery.
They converted several of the Olan Mills studios to digital,,,
A family went in for the shoot and immediately got proofs to view and order from.
I had left the company long before that but I talked to one of their last photographers,,,
The digital prints were still very low quality compared to silver prints,,,
The consumers didn't like them and they went under.
After I left Olan Mills I started working for a company out of San Francisco,,,
Expressly Portraits was their name and they set up in malls.
Each store had three studios and a darkroom in the back room,,,
We shot the sitting and immediately developed the film,,,
Then instead of "proofs" we printed a full package.
In one hour we had 8x10's, 5x7's, and Wallet sized prints ready to take home,,,
They eventually went digital (long after I quit) but didn't last long either,,,
They didn't pay well enough for skilled photographers to stay,,,
They hired young kids and tried to train them in house.
It didn't work.
Aarond
.
