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Newsday, August 13, 2007 - Len Totora Jr. has seen and survived much since he was a combat photographer toting his camera into battle during the Korean War. But these days, as one of a dwindling group of independent photo processing store owners on Long Island, he wonders how much longer such mom-and-pop businesses can last as big national chains and online operations attempt to woo his customers away with low prices and convenience. 

We used to have five camera stores in Huntington alone and they're all gone except me," said Totora, who opened his business, L&L Camera, on New York Avenue in 1956. "Most of them had mini labs because that's where the money was, developing film. Now that's gone by the wayside.

Since the sales of digital cameras overshadowed sales of film cameras in 2003, Totora and other independent photo shops have found themselves in a continual struggle to keep up with new technology, changing consumer habits and new competition. They've had to invest heavily in the latest equipment and constantly expand the list of services offered CVS, Walgreens, Costco and Wal-Mart often offer customers prints at half the price as well as the convenience of shopping for other items. And with digital cameras, customers can be more selective, choosing to print fewer images and storing their pictures on online albums. Shop owners have seen their revenues from film developing and printing drop drastically.

"When film was king, if you wanted to be involved with photography, you had to print everything whether it was good or not," said Gary Pageau, the publisher of the magazine for PMA, an international photo imaging trade association. "The industry had a 100 percent profit center. So now the number of prints made is declining and that's impacted the retail segment tremendously.

"A lot of independents have decided that this is a good time to retire or they have reinvented their business as a boutique-type business."

With decades in the photo finishing industry, the independent photo store owners are pitching quality and knowledgeable service as their strengths. They, too, offer in-store kiosks where customers can print their own digital photos and the stores make high-end photo books, personal cards and thank-you cards with images.

But it's a pitch that's hard to make when they can't afford to advertise.

"When people say to us, 'Why does it cost more money here than in the drugstore?' [it's because] the drugstore doesn't correct the prints," said Catherine Sando, who owns Syosset Imaging with her partner, Sandra Prentice, who make sure their customers' print orders are of high quality.

"What they pay for is me standing by the machine color-correcting their prints," Sando said.

Images of digital success

A turning point in the national photo industry came in 2003, when the number of digital cameras sold was about 13 million, surpassing sales of film cameras by about 1.8 million, according to marketing research by PMA, the trade organization. Digital camera penetration hit 40 percent in 2004 and, the following year, the population with a digital camera and a broadband Internet connection exceeded 20 percent, laying the foundation for online ordering, a PMA industry review and forecast noted.

The stand-alone kiosks and printers - which allow customers to instantly print their digital images in the stores - had been the fastest-growing digital print segment until 2005, when other options, such as ordering prints online either for delivery or for pick-up in the store, became more available.

Prints made on home printers also have been increasing. In 2006, prints made at home totaled 4.9 billion, compared with 4.6 billion made in retail locations and 2.4 billion ordered online, according to PMA.

A photo career develops

Sando reminisced about her discovery of photography as she stood in a now-defunct black-and-white darkroom in the basement of her store on a weekday afternoon. The adjacent color darkroom is also dormant.

Sando said she used to have seven people working full-time in these darkrooms. Recently, she donated most of the equipment to the North Shore Hebrew Academy because she was unable to sell it.

"What I loved most was the black and white, putting the paper in the tray and all of the sudden, like magic, that image would appear," she said.

An art history major in college, Sando said she fell in love with photography after taking a few classes and left college to work in the industry. After 30 years in the professional and retail experience, she has invested heavily in reinventing her store, learning new software and adding new products.

"I don't know what else to do if I don't do this," she said. "It's not like I can go back to college and learn another profession."

About five years ago, Sando and Prentice spent $175,000 on equipment and have since invested thousands on software to stay competitive. They added a self-service print-making kiosk, and also make invitations and photo cards as well as DVD photo shows set to music and coffee-table photo books.

Syosset Imaging has a small inventory of cameras and sells frames and albums as well.

Sando and Prentice are hoping to buy another kiosk and begin offering a process for artists to reproduce their original oil paintings using inkjet printers. A portrait studio and delivery service are among the other strategies they are considering.

"I am trying to stay in business," Sando said. "So I have to be creative and combine four or five businesses into one."

Brad Berger, 52, owner of Berger Bros., based in Amityville, finds himself in a similar situation. Though camera equipment sales have always been higher than the revenue from photo processing, the company did a significant business developing and printing, Berger said. The revenue from processing has been falling about 20 percent a year, he said.

"Now the consumer has so many choices because they can do it themselves, which they could never do before, or they could do it over the Internet, which cuts up the pie even more," Berger said. "It's very hard for a small retailer to replace what they lose. You have to be on your game every minute of your life."

Berger Bros., which sells equipment ranging from cameras to printers and offers self-service kiosks, has found success with photo classes, some offered free to customers who purchase cameras. They offer about 10 different classes and seminars at any given time, Berger said, ranging from beginner's instruction and lessons in Photoshop to seminars with well-known photographers.

"The classes have become so popular that we are now calling it the Berger Bros. School of Photography and Digital Imaging," Berger said.

"These are very good things that help us close sales and have customers get educated so they can get more into photography, enjoy the hobby and progress to the next level and buy accessories and help us stay in business."

Other stores, like Camera Click One Hour Photo in Franklin Square, are finding the competition in the digital era tough mostly because they can't compete with the low pricing the large chains offer. Frank Seminara, owner of Camera Click and a veteran in the industry for 34 years, said he did everything right: bought kiosks and the machine to print digital media. But the revenue doesn't come close to what he was making when film cameras were the norm.

"The online services do business in a warehouse where rents are low and ... you don't have the overhead," Seminara said. "Our electric is the highest in the nation. ... I don't know how much longer we could really hang on."

Despite the fiercely competitive environment, independents like Totora are still doing business. He, like the others, have evolved with the changing technology.

And he has formed a business relationship with another photo shop owner, Mohammad Raja, who runs 30 Minute Photo in nearby Fort Salonga. If a machine is broken in Totora's shop, Raja will handle his orders. Raja will do some film processing for Totora and, in turn, sends his black-and-white developing and restoration work to L&L Camera.

Totora has a drive-through window for his customers - a feature he started 49 years ago, he said. But in the end, he believes the quality of his product is what will entice his customers to return.

One customer, Barbara Porpora, 60, said she agrees. But Totora's involvement in the community and the fact that the store is a family business are draws for her as well.

"I've bought cameras here and I think his prices are good, but it goes beyond that," Porpora said. "He does a lot for the community and I like that it's a family business."

MONDAY FOCUS

Making digital prints

Year Home Retail Online

2000 400 million * *

2006 (estimated) 4.9 billion 4.6 billion 2.4 billion

2007 (projected) 5.5 billion 6.1 billion 3.7 billion

*Negligible

SOURCE: PMA