[LargeFormat] keeping track of negatives

[rstein]

Dear Donald,

    I too urge the use of plastic pocket sheets that clip into a ring
binder - in my case it is 4 x 5's and the sheet maker is Klame. 4 pockets to
a sheet, a little white border on the top, and 2 rings - these are more
common here in Perth than 3 rings.

     I do not trust stickers or  computer filing systems to identify the
negative and the contact print - and I certainly don't trust my customers to
read a filing number and report accurately on it. So I sacrifice the most
useless corner of the negative for a space to ink a code number on the
emulsion side. In some cases my negatives have all four corners useless and
the center a bit dodgy, so there is no problem deciding where to write. Any
rate, it means that the number stays with the neg and comes out on the
proof. If the subject of the portrait is really ugly I write the number
across the face in felt-tip packaging pen.

    As for long-term retrieval - well, David, I trust to my photographic
memory for names. Show me any name and any negative and I will be able to
instantly identify which is which. The negatives are the flat grey-ey silver
things and the names have letters in them. Easy.

    Uncle Dick

PS: NEVER NEVER trust a wedding customer to return an order without the set
of proof prints. You can do a wedding that has only 2 photos and the
customer's auntie Meryl will order one and want the other one. This is a
great argument for structuring your pricing so that you can off-load the
negatives and the responsibility for auntie Meryl onto the bride and be done
with it.

PPS:    Remember that in large format photography you do not need to
generate 36 images to end up with one worth printing - hence you do not need
to store 35 also-rans. Also you do not need to overcome the urge to show
them to the customer ( " This one almost succeeded except you can see where
the horse's head flew off when it hit the chainsaw.") which is bad
marketing.

PPPS: Good marketing involves chain saws.