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Ever since high school Jim DiVitale knew he was destined to be a photographer. What he nor anyone else in West Palm Beach, Florida, could know was that he would be an expert in digital capture. In the eleventh grade, having taken all the art classes that were offered, and not being, in his words, particularly good, Jim decided to try a photography class. The future co-founder of DiVitale Photography proved more than good. Unbeknownst to Jim, his teacher submitted two of his images - one a portrait, the other of an airplane on a runway - to the Florida State Fair. Several weeks later Jim got a letter from his congressman in Washington, D.C., saying, "Your pictures are being displayed in the Kennedy Center." Jim remembers his excited reaction. I said, "Ma, you've got to buy me a camera, this is what I'm supposed to be doing." While studying photography at Palm Beach Community College, Jim met his wife and company co-founder Sandy DiVitale. Although no longer married, they are still business partners and close friends.
In 1985 Jim and Sandy founded DiVitale Photography. At first Sandy worked with art directors, gathered props and conceptualized background ideas. Having earned masters degrees in both business and technical communication, she now handles the company's marketing and future direction. "I try to look at things like a designer, and nothing is mechanical. I use calligraphy, special envelopes and special stamps. And I'm always looking for new markets," she says. The company's success and its clients' unshakeable loyalty are partly due to Sandy's idea of marketing. Early in their career Sandy teamed up with designer Rich Godfrey to create a promotional poster. The background of the poster uses Jim's photos as a pattern for its "cut-out" letter forms. Sandy found clear poster tubes that revealed the image of the poster inside. Besides hanging for years on the walls of art directors, the poster put DiVitale Photography and Godfrey on the map. For this joint effort, they found themselves profiled in numerous design annuals. Jim began using digital in the early nineties, before it was popular. After a major catalog client wanted to go digital, Jim purchased a digital camera, focusing on this area of some four years. After that time, Jim branched out to providing digital services to principally design firms, producing brochures, ads and annual reports. Today, their client list includes InfoWorld, Digital Video, Mizuno USA, Scientific Atlanta, BP Amoco, and Coca Cola. Schooled in both fine art and commercial photography, Jim lectures at numerous conferences and seminars, and is a regular speaker at Photoshop World conferences. He says he really enjoys teaching art directors exactly how digital photography works and how they can incorporate it into their design flow. "Working with designers who understand the digital flow has been freeing," Jim says, "they don't even think twice about what they ask for because they don't even think twice about how the technology works." In the meantime, Jim has recently been asked to consider speaking on Photoshop in Moscow while continuing to tour with Photoshop World as one of the nation's top Photoshop trainers. Altpick.com spoke to the Jim and Sandy about their work, success and plans for the future.
One of the challenges of digital photography is getting the color right. You're known for your ability to perfect color. How do you do it?
JD: I'm very in touch with color management and understanding what the capabilities of the technology are. Working closely with the separators, I know the numbers of my gray scale are exactly right. I can't make my image really off color to match someone else's preparation; it's got to be the other way around. What hesitations do clients have about going digital? SD: Many still see it as a production tool for lower-end projects. They do not understand that digital photography has made strides to become more qualitive as a medium. For instance, with digital photography, the designer can preview his results and continue working with us to get the look he or she wants. We have become more of a creative team in working together to tweak the final photographic look.
With digital, how do you see the role of photographers changing?
JD: Yes, because it can save a company millions of dollars in what they call repurposing images, those that filed by name and later pulled up and reused. Film is something photographers liked, and was a necessary evil to get to the end result. It's not something we have to have any more. There were a few things stopping people technically before. One thing was there was no such thing as a really good one-shot camera. Over the last few years the one-shot camera has really gotten the technology right. There will still have to be something that can shoot a still that is lit with a continuous light.
What inspires you?SD: I am studying to become an art therapist. Therefore, I work a lot in the fine arts, including ceramics, and more recently, drawing. My inspiration comes from understanding the creative process, no matter which medium is used. Lately, I rely solely on gut feeling for my creative impulses, not, for instance, looking at award annuals for inspiration. What's next? SD: We hope to open our own school teaching Photoshop techniques to photographers and designers alike. Also, we have a book offer from a national publisher, which we hope to pursue in the next year. So besides trying to get resettled in our new studio, we have a number of exciting projects for diversity ahead.
- Contributed by Mary Beth Holland >> See more work from DiVitale >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
