Paul Wingler
Marine, Muscian, and Professional Photographer
Like
so many professional photographers, Paul Wingler never started out to
be a photographer. Initially he was a US Marine and became a
member of the Camp LeJune Marine Corp band playing percussion and
keyboard. He then managed a repair facility for musical
instruments while his interest in photography began to
stir. Paul attended the Durham Arts Council photography
program which led to moving into full time photography 15 years
ago. Paul built a garage on to his home but from the beginning,
it was designed to actually be his studio. He operates by
appointment only with no identifying signage.
Schools
have always been an important component of Paul’s business.
Several years ago he decided that he needed to enhance his school work,
offering a more creative edge, to better service his customers and
separate him from other school photographers including the national
chains. His weddings were down so he decided to place more
emphasis on schools and portraits. He ordered a Scene
Machine virtual background system with an 8 x 9 wide screen and
immediately attended the virtual background’s 3 day training course in
Texas. Paul explains, “I wanted to do it right, right
from the beginning. I wanted to be comfortable with the system
and get maximum advantage from using it.” Today Paul uses his
Virtual Backgrounds system on nearly every job.
Quoting
Paul about his early experience with the Scene Machine, “Customer
reaction was immediately very positive. My first job with the
Scene Machine was a homecoming dance and we photographed the court of
24 kids. In the past, we had just ok sales but with the Scene
Machine, the kids freaked. They loved it. They couldn’t
believe how we produced the backgrounds. One parent kept hanging
around watching me and when there was a break, he asked me a bunch of
questions about how the process worked. Then he explained that he
was a preacher and asked if it might be possible for me to use this
system to do his next church directory. He said that past
directories were boring. One thing led to another and I’ll
be photographing his church directory later this summer. It all
started with his fascination with the Scene Machine. Of course
I’ll be using the Scene Machine. And, the sales for the
homecoming court were 115 percent higher with the Scene Machine than
what they were the previous year!”
“The Scene
Machine paid for itself very quickly and based on my experience, I
would recommend it to most anyone and everyone. I’ve now taken
the VB workshop twice. I wanted to come back when Trevon Baker
started teaching the second two days. I learned a great deal both
times.”
Paul
continued by saying, “Let me tell you a few more things. VB
customer service is absolutely great. I was at a school at 7:30
a.m. getting ready and discovered that my Scene Machine would not
flash. I panicked. I called Virtual Backgrounds and when it
was determined that there was a problem that could not be fixed on
site, they felt my panic and promised me immediate response. At
7:40 the next morning, I had a replacement power supply and in minutes
I was in business. I couldn’t believe how great their customer
service is but I guess that comes from key VB staff members being
photographers themselves. They understand.”
“Let me also tell you about something really funny. I use to lose
a lot of sales because parents and others would shoot over my shoulder
as soon as I prepared a pose and that often meant I lost a sale because
their digital cameras are so good. Now, with the Scene
Machine, I don’t mind if they shoot over my shoulder all they want
because their flash blows out their image no matter what they do.
I love to watch their bewilderment as they look at their LCD screen and
can hardly even see the subjects floating in a sea of white
background! If they want the photograph, they have to buy it from
me. I love it.”
Then
at the end of the interview, Paul became more philosophical about the
role of the professional photographer in today’s world.
“Professional photographers have to really work at separating
ourselves. With the digital revolution, everyone is the
same. We must develop our own style that is
different. Unless we offer the public something really
special, it will come down to just the dollar - who is the
cheapest. That is the only thing that will matter. I do not
want to be part of that. I want to be the most different and do
things no one else can do. Plus it is just plain fun to be
different. I love shooting my own background images and I get a
tax deduction for the trip expenses. My excursions become tax
deductions!”
“I like to help others because it is
our responsibility as professionals to help raise the quality of all
professional photographers. This Scene Machine tool gives us
another edge over those who are not serious about photography - those
who just want to do whatever. We are able to do so much more
because we have the tools - we have total control - and the results
speak for themselves. It is my fundamental belief that givers
gain.”
“I
work with Marathon Press to prepare my church directories. They
were not use to seeing directories where every photograph was different
with different backgrounds and different poses but they soon got use to
it. My church directory average sale is well above what the
average is.”
“My Scene Machine brings fun to my
photography. It gives me new energy. It brings me passion
that I was losing. It helps me recognize why I went into
photography in the first place. Every sitting is a new and
different experience. The cookie cutter is gone. Recently I
had a fine arts student come in for a portrait. We made a
background out of her fine art work and she absolutely loved it.
It was so personalized.”
“VB
has treated me exceptionally well from the very beginning. I knew
I needed the system but it was a big step financially. Maria, my
VB consultant, didn’t push me one bit. She walked me
through the options but never pushed me to buy. There was no
pressure. It reflects the attitude of the whole -company. I
really appreciate their non-pushy approach. They seem to be
equally as concerned about their customer’s bottom line as they are
about their own bottom line. You don’t see that attitude and
customer service much anymore today.”
Paul is a
clear reason why we at VB enjoy our work - helping photographers like
Paul have more fun, be more creative, and make more profit.
Paul perfectly fits our new company motto: Helping photographers
to enhance their careers!
