Artcraft got into the signage business three years ago and was sixth months ago integrated into the Kingston Plaza store. It specializes in vehicle wraps, which last for at least five years and doesn’t harm the vehicle. It’s become a popular advertising device for local businesses, reaching thousands of potential customers in a day, said Shawn.
Another room in Kingston is reserved for custom framing. Here too the sky’s the limit: Fitzgerald noted that besides framing conventional images, Artcraft had devised new ways of displaying memorabilia. For example, a folded Yankees uniform is handsomely mounted in a black frame, while a small shadowbox printed with a ticket pattern contains a client’s special event or concert tickets.
Artcraft still develops film for a handful of dedicated hobbyists, students and artists, and it still sells cameras — digital ones, of course. It sticks to Canon, Nikon and Olympus — true camera brands, which offer many accessories and “identical menus,” unlike the consumer electronics brands, he said. The store also offers photography classes, including an hour-and-a-half, one-on-one session for $69; the client is encouraged to come up with a list of questions and can quickly learn the basics for his or her targeted needs, rather than struggle with the operating manual.
The digital photography revolution, which started about 12 years ago, has been profound. The learning curve continues. “We’re constantly striving to meet the challenge of technological change,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re never 100 percent confident we’ve met it” — an assumption that the partners say keeps them on their toes.
Bringing back the photo booth
For photographer Nancy Donskoj, the power of nostalgia inspired her newest business: Broadway Photo Booth, a portable photo booth she and partner Paige Vinson rent out for weddings and other events. The booth, which includes a Canon SLR camera, HP printer and collapsible tent to house it all, is a digital update of the popular Photomaton booths that once graced every Woolworth’s, bus terminal and corner drug store. It comes apart and fits into her Honda, so she didn’t have to invest in a van.
Previously, Donskoj had a prosperous business shooting slides and transparencies of artists’ works, but digital technology and the weak economy have led to a decline in customers. The trick for entrepreneurs is to diversify and “be nimble in looking at new opportunities,” she said. Besides her photography business, Donskoj also runs the Storefront Gallery and an upstairs B&B, both in the Rondout, and writes and produces a weekly newsletter on Kingston events. She formed a partnership with Paige Vinson, a friend, to incorporate the photo booth business back in April.
Donskoj invested just under $10,000 for the booth, which she purchased from Mojo Photo Booth, as well as the website, insurance and postcard. In choosing her model, Donskoj went for portability and quality: the SLR camera snaps high-resolution photos, and the Dye Sub printer ensures the prints are waterproof and very resilient (unlike the wet, splotchy photo strips of old).
So far, Broadway Photobooth has been rented for several weddings and a rehearsal dinner party, located in an antique barn. The enthusiastic response from guests exceeded Donskoj’s expectations. “So many people thanked us and said it was the best time they’d had at a wedding,” she said.
The company charges a flat fee for the booth, which includes an attendant, props — including boas, silly glasses, hats and a chalk board on which users can write a message and hold over their heads — and two strips of four photos each. Additional strips can be printed — if for example there are more than two people in the booth; it holds up to 15 people — and either black and white or color is available.
A flip of a switch changes the background color. Green screen technology is available; specialized backdrops such as the Eiffel Tower or the Leaning Tower of Pisa can be printed in the background. (This takes advance programming.) Stools are also brought to each gig so that kids can elevate themselves to camera level.
Coming up are more weddings, a birthday, a bar mitzvah and a Christmas party at a resort. Donskoj and Vinson have ventured as far south as Westchester, where there is competition, albeit at much higher rental prices. They also have attended several fundraisers free of charge, such as Always There’s Evening in Paris at Diamond Mills and the Hudson River Maritime Museum’s River Day. People pay cash for their photos, with a portion of the proceeds going to the charity. Donskoj said such exposure is valuable in “getting out the word.” They’ve also advertised in wedding supplements in local newspapers.
“We’re introducing ourselves to wedding planners and building a partnership with local people in this industry,” she said. “The fun part is being in charge of your own business and using your creativity in trying to figure out what would work best.”
