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PHOTO STUDIO
The well-know Hamburg service complex "H2E-Studios" has been using CromaBASE® for some time now.
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They managed to introduce professional digital photography within an amazingly short time.
A photo model poses for the photographer of a women's magazine. In the next room, something is being put up that looks like a street with a line in the middle. And between the props, there are parts from the kitchen of a country house. The five studios of the Hamburg company H2E are very busy. Konstantin Eulenburg, Rudolf Heidicker and the team of artists construct artificial worlds. In the studios they founded, advertising photos are taken that look as if they had been taken somewhere in the Caribbean. Pages from a catalog that convey the reader to huge, gorgeous salons or simply onto a street. It is impossible to see that these worlds were created artificially - in a large room with gray, concrete walls and a six-meter high ceiling.
"There are several film studios in Hamburg, but our combination of studio, photographer, props and scenery construction is not offered very often in this sector. We offer all services from make-up artists and assistants to lighting," says Rudolf Heidicker. He is responsible for constructing the scenery and Konstantin Eulenburg is the photographer.
This was written by the newspaper "Hamburger Abendblatt" one year after the studio complex was founded.
The concept was from the outset extremely promising. In the following year, they continued to systematically implement their plan of making H2E a service complex for the advertising industry. In 2004, the innovative organizer, Jacob Alberts, took charge of planning and implementing technology in the company. Digital photography was introduced. Of course, a solution had to be found for handling the new medium, such as the problem area of digital color and managing large volumes of data. The equipment at the rental studios included medium and large format cameras with digital backs from PhaseONE to meet the highest professional standards. They quickly gained experience by working for customers like Otto and Tchibo and got to know CromaBASE. First of all, new cable and a powerful server system were installed in the studios. Of course, Instant Data, the manufacturer and supplier of CromaBASE, was responsible for planning and implementation. The individual studios were equipped with the easy-to-use CromaBOXes, which supply the photographer with a color correct image immediately after shooting has taken place thanks to the modern EIZO monitors. For this, the innovative "BasICColor Display" monitor profiling from the company Color Solutions was used. The only profiling that already takes into account the gamma-free LStarRGB color model. Minutes after the shooting session, the EPSON Proof Printer produces a print-quality digital proof. A new feature in CromaBASE - the art director can have the contract proof quality image including FOGRA-Keil and corresponding measurement values in his hands on the spot. "New customers are constantly getting in touch since our new concept of offering everything from one source is extremely popular. We are already known abroad for being a competent, all-round provider of digital photography," said Konstantin Eulenburg with a certain amount of pride.
A Mecca for photographers, who rent a studio here for their production - they come here and feel at home. "15 members of staff and numerous freelancers ensure a pleasant atmosphere where everybody works hard. Additional stress factors that arose during the change-over from analog to digital photography were kept to a minimum by the use of CromaBASE," commented Jacob Alberts, who is responsible for smooth running and for developing the technology further.
A direct dedicated line to the CromaBASE server farm ensures the smooth transfer of image data to the service platform. After the rough, preliminary selection of raw images has been made by the photographer and art director, the CromaBASE upload server processes the data. At the same time, preparations are being made for further processing. "Since we started using the upload server, we save several hours every day that we would have otherwise spent on the further processing of the digital images. It takes a lot of time to process and burn raw images on CDs or DVDs for the customer and normally the customer is not charged for this service. Thanks to CromaBASE, we have a workflow which enhances quality, increases availability and is popular with the customer," said Alberts.
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