December 7, 2010 -- Royal Photographics, Inc. will celebrate its 25th anniversary of “serving students through their schools.” in January.
We are grateful for the opportunity you have each given us over the years and we promise to continue to bring you the newest and best services available in America. Thank you all for your contribution to our success!
Announcing Our New Fall Portrait Offers
February 4, 2009 -- Every year we make available new and exciting special offers and this year is no exception. We have added special savings coupons add-on wallet sheets and for our “My Portrait On CD” product with a minimum purchase.
In addition to these items we will be including FREE two 5x7 2010 portrait calendars with each package “A” purchased. This gives parents a special savings value of up to $7.00 depending on your sales tax level and your school portrait commission level. As usual there is nothing you need to do because all of our schools regardless of enrollment or location always receive all of our special savings offers.
New Scholarship Portraits Introduced August 1, 2008 -- Keeping school portraits affordable for students has always been a top priority for us. However we realize that some people simply can not afford these treasured memories of their child no matter how inexpensive they are. That is why we are happy to introduce our new Scholarship Portraits.
Some years ago a few schools requested that we offer some gift certificates for parents of children that could not afford a portrait of their child. We always liked the idea and now want to share it with all of our schools. We put some time into it and have now put systems in place to make this great program happen seamlessly.
Starting this year all school clients using our fall portrait program will be given a few certificates (based solely on enrollment) to distribute to your most needy families. These certificates are designed in such a way that the students will not be singled out. These gift certificates are not discount coupons. They have a sufficient value that students can use them to receive a full portrait package E or use it as a discount on a larger package.
Although this program will be in place in all of our underclass schools it will be your decision on whether or not to participate.
Keep your ideas coming! We promise we will work to develop products and services to better benefit your school and the families of your community.
New Prom Background Selection Menu Available
February 21, 2008 -- If you are a member of your school's prom or dance committee or a prom advisor please be aware that planning for a great prom portrait just became a whole lot easier. Simply select a background from our new prom background selection menu and we will do the rest.
Your big event deserves quality professional portraits by SCHOOLPORTRAITS. And remember that we offer 5 to 7 day delivery of your finished portraits as well.
Click on the link below to see our menu or call us and we will be happy to send you a high quality flyer for you to review.
PSPA Wins Photo Marketing Association Chile Cook Off
February 2, 2008 -- The Professional School Photographers Association International (PSPA) team took home the golden spoon award for winning the PMA chile cook off. They competed against six other member organizations of the Photo Marketing Association at the huge convention closing tailgate party in Las Vegas Nevada.
Representing the school photographers were (pictured below from left to right) Todd & Tabatha Wilbert of Creative Images, Robert & Cecilia Kerr of Royal Photographics and Bill Glover of Strawbridge Studios.
PSPA Membership Elects New Officers
March 7, 2007 -- The members of the Professional School Photographers Association International (PSPA) elected 2007-2008 officers today at the PSPA 2007 Official Business Session at its annual convention held at The Renaissance Hotel, Las Vegas, Nev.
The officers are President Robert Kerr, Royal Photographics Inc., Bethlehem, Pa.; President-Elect Harvey E. Parido, Bryn-Alan Studio, Tampa, Fla.; First Vice President Todd Wilbert, Creative Images, Stevensville, Md.; Second Vice President Mark Schoenrock, Lifetouch National School Studios Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.; Treasurer Bill Glover, Strawbridge Studios Inc., Durham, N.C.; Executive Secretary Ted Fox, PMA, Jackson, Mich.; Director John T. Mark, Mark Lab-Dorian Studio, Spokane, Wash.; and Director Jim Wingard, School Portrait Group of Arkansas, Midway, Ark.
The PSPA is a division of the Photo Marketing Association (PMA), which serve over 18,000 members in 100-plus countries. PMA members represent almost every segment of the photo/imaging industry: photo/video retailers; wholesale and mail-order photofinishers; retail minilabs; photo retail/studio operators; electronic imaging service centers; commercial, people and corporate/institutional labs; professional school portrait companies; and photo/video repair technicians.
President Accepts IPC Award of Excellence At The United Nations November 8, 2007 -- The International Photographic Council (IPC), a nongovernmental organization of the United Nations, announced the recipient of its 2007 IPC Award of Excellence—the Professional School Photographers Association (PSPA).
The association was recognized today during an awards luncheon in the Delegate’s Dining Room at the UN in New York City. Robert Kerr, president of Royal Photographics and 2007-2008 PSPA president, accepted the award on behalf of the PSPA. Ken Strawbridge, president of PMA, was the keynote speaker. A display showcased outstanding work in the school photography industry.
The Award of Excellence was established to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of photography, especially in the areas of human relations and international communications and cooperation.
Attending the awards luncheon (Pictured below from left to right) are James Chung of the International Photographic Council, Robert Kerr of Royal Photographics, John Segall of Lifetouch, Ken Strawbridge of Strawbridge Studios and Tom Crawford of the Photo Marketing Association International.
Computer Network Expands Again
July 18, 2006 -- Due to the continual expansion of our business and in particular digital imaging, we recently received shipments of new equipment to further improve our products and services.
Part of these shipments includes additional storage compacity, faster network switching, several imaging workstations and improved digital workflow software. These additions and changes will help us to produce higher quality products and deliver more timely service across our entire product line.
Another SCHOOLPORTRAITS First
July 10, 2005 -- This fall for the first time Royal Photographics will be bringing selected schools the world's first and only truly digital SCHOOLPORTRAITS. We will be delivering portraits on mobile MiniDrive flash memory drives with student portraits preloaded and ready for them to share electronically with friends and family.
The SCHOOLPORTRAITS will be made available in a special add-on kit which includes the Mobile MiniDrive, a digital portrait file on a seperate archive CD-ROM with a printable copyright release and a free neck strap and USB cable.
This is a product both students and parents will enjoy.
Royal Photographics Launches 2 Week Delivery Guarantee
December 27, 2004 -- To improve turnaround for ordering school portraits on fall prepay package work and to give better customer service Royal Photographics launched its Express Package System. All schools opting for this premium service will receive their entire order including portraits, classroom group photographs, and service items like ID cards and yearbook CD-ROMs within 2 weeks of portrait day or the school will receive $500 dollars for not meeting their expectations.
Meeting this goal on a consistent basis is only now available with Royal’s 100% digital workflow and T1 broadband connections directly to our photo processing facilities. “Twenty-years ago, when the company was founded, it would have taken up to 30 days or more to deliver this type of service from traditional film”, said Robert Kerr the company president.
Making this happen has meant rethinking everything we do from photography to linking data with images to packaging and shipping options but now we are certain we have raised the bar for others in the industry to reach for. School portrait photography is more then taking a quality portrait of a student it is also delivering the goods in a timely manner. “Execution really is everything and this new Express Package System will be the one to beat.” Kerr said.
My Portrait On CD Product Introduced
Januay 10, 2004 -- Royal photographics today announced an exciting new product for the fall school portrait season. It is called "MY PORTRAIT ON CD". Now any student that wishes to buy a high resolution image with a copyright realease can do so simply by ordering one on their proof portrait order form.
The cost for this product is only $10 when purchased with a portrait package and $20 if purchased without. By purchasing this product parents can edit the file as they see fit then print it at home or at a photolab. They can even resize and crop the image for emailng to friends or family or for posting on their personal web page.
Media Coverage
Digital Answer To The Anxiety Of School Photos Baltimore Sun, December 9, 2004
Finding Cost Savings In Your Small Business Photo Marketing Magazine, August 2004
Student-Photo Industry Upgrades Image Education Week, December, 10, 2003
Optimizing Your Fall Portrait Calendar Photo Marketing Magazine, June 2002
Global And Local Networking Photo Marketing Magazine, June 2000
PSPA Holds Conference In England The School Photographer, June 2000
Management Tools For A Successful Portrait Day The School Photographer, March 1998
Designing A Quality Handbook The School Photographer, July 1997
